THE 

MAPLE LECTURES 

EDUCATIONAL — HISTORICAL — SCIENTIHC — SCRIPTURAL 



TRUTH IN NEW DRESS 

BY 

OTTO DELTON MAPLE 





Class 

Book 

Cop)Tight]^?. 



COPflUGHT DEPOSIT. 




Mrs. O. D. Maple. 




O. D Maple. 



The Maple Lectures 

Scientific— Historical— Scriptural 

BY 

OTTO DELTON MAPLE 



"A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, 
embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond." 

— Milton. 



SECOND EDITION 



F. L. RowE;, Publisher 

ClKCINNATI, O. 

1918. 






Copyright 1918 

By 

Otto Delton^ Maple 



MAY 2C iSiB 



©CLA497342 



ffr^B^ntation 



Presented to 

by _ 

in the Year of Our Lord igi. 



with the sincere prayer that you read it- 
and study it every zvord. 

"Ye shall know the truth, and the 
truth shall make you free." — Jesus. 

"Blessed is he that readeth." — John. 

"Give heed to reading.'" — Paul. 



The Maple Lectures 



DEDICATION 



To whom shall I dedicate this book? To my father, 
who is rapidly descending the slope, or to "mother/' whose 
love is so tender, or to our brothers and sisters in the flesh — 
all of whom are living? 

Or, if we consider earthly and fleshly relationships, and 
recalling Matt., 19: 5, should I dedicate it to my wife, who 
in all the trying hours has been oak and rock, and on the 
dark, dreary days sunshine and flowers, and — more — a real 
helpmeet in the work of our hearts, as well as in this mutual 
production ? 

Nay, in view of Matt., 12: 46-50, rather to those more 
closely and mystically related. 

To all the above, and especially to those earnest, honest 
souls in the sects who long for light ; and to the "digressive" 
Disciples for whom the author preached nearly a fourth 
century, and whom he now prays may learn the way of 
the Lord more perfectly and return to the old paths, is this 
book dedicated, with a sincere prayer that we may all be 
one, as our Saviour prayed (John, 17: 11-23). 



Author's Preface 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 



He was just plain Newt — and an old bachelor when 
I was a mere boy. He never went to meeting, but put in 
much of his time fishing, and I went with him occasionally. 
Newt was a skeptic — I knew he was, or something — for 
he talked of science, geology, astronomy, Darwin, and 
used a lot of big words. 

Yet someway Newt appealed to me. Though that was 
nearly forty years ago, I think now lie sowed some 
scientific seed in my young mind which has had something to 
do, at least, with my desire to consider things scientifically. 
He undoubtedly created in my heart a hungering and 
thirsting for science. 

Since that long ago, I have wondered why Newt — for 
I liked him — could not belong to church and read science 
too. Does the knowledge of science prevent the acceptance 
of Christianity.'' These and many other questions coming 
later impelled me to investigate, and be able and ready, if 
possible, to give a reason for things. 

In after years when my daughter broached questions 
of the historical and scientific nature — questions that came 
up in the High School class — I was re-possessed with the 
renascent determination to answer in a way that would 
be true to the Scriptures without denying scientific and 
historical facts. Such has been the standard by which I 
have tried to study the Scriptures and science; and thus 
during the years I have wrestled, the best I could, with 



6 The Maple Lectures 

like questions resulting in the truths found in these "Lec- 
tures." 

Since the preparation and compilation of the "Lectures" 
they have been delivered hundreds of times; and to some 
who would not hear ordinary sermons. Many noble souls 
have been won to Christ through the truths herein. 

So many have wished for the "Lectures" in book form 
that we finally decided to take time off and prepare the 
MSS.; and now, after ten weeks of constant writing, re- 
writing and correcting, we are able to send the book on 
its mission with a prayer that it may be read and studied, 
for, as Burke says, "To read without reflecting is like 
eating without digesting." 

No place could be more suitable in which to do a work 
of this sort than Magnetic Springs, Ohio — good town, best 
of people and sparkling magnetic water. A thousand 
thanks for such connatural environment. If this book is 
not up to the standard, nature and the social surroundings 
cannot be the cause. 



Proem 



PROEM 



John Morley wrote, "It is a great mistake to think 
that because you have read a masterpiece once or twice, 
or ten times, therefore you have done with it; because it 
is a masterpiece, you ought to live with it, and make it a 
part of your daily life." 

Not that this is a masterpiece — far from it — but just 
a worth-while little volume that may prove scientifically, 
Scripturally and historically interesting, and a means of 
teaching the truth — if the reader "lives with it and makes 
it a part of his daily life." To this end we have arranged 
the subject matter for the convenience of the truth-seeker. 

Believing that the truth is the catholicon for the re- 
ligious and moral ills of men, the author is anxious that 
his "patients" follow most strictly the directions herewith; 
otherwise he cannot guarantee a cure. 

1. Read the "Lectures and Appendices Themes." 
Remember that some truisms and data are not adapted to 
the spoken address, and these "Lectures" are written 
approximately as they have been delivered hundreds of 
times. Therefore such corroborative matter not permitted 
by the modern "forty-minutes-is-long-enough, keep-me- 
awake-if-you-can" audience is found in the appendices. 

And to favor the student the more, these appendices 
follow immediately and respectively the "Lectures" — ex. g.. 



8 The Maple Lectures 

App. A. follows Lecture L; App. B.^ Lecture IL, etc., to 
which references are made in the footnotes. 

2. To get the most out of the "Lectures/' read each 
carefully and before reading the following lecture, go back 
and re-read, together with the Scriptures referred to and 
the appendices. Should you find a new word, consult any 
good 1918 dictionary. ("Let him that readeth under- 
stand" — Matt., 24: 15 — is a good motto.) 

3. When you want to read up on a certain subject, go 
to the "Index;" and the Scriptural references in connection 
therewith may throw light on some Scriptures. Make free 
use of the above in the Bible class, meetings, worship, etc. 

4. If you are a cook, or want to become more proficient 
in the culinary art, consult "Some Things for the Physical 
Man." I can most heartily (or should I say bodily f) 
recommend these recipes, as I have enjoyed to the full 
many of these good things when with our friends over the 
country; and then, too, "my good wife" has tried most of 
them. 

Space forbids a list of the splendid books, papers, etc., 
which have been contributory to the making of these Lec- 
tures, but I must mention especially one book — the Old 
Book — and The Cross-Reference Bible with the American 
Standard Version as the best among the many. 

I am truly grateful to Brethren Ira C. Moore, who has 
read most of the MSS. critically; J. W. Shepherd, for 
helpful suggestions; J. N. Armstrong, Hal. P. McDonald 
and many others for criticisms and encouragements. 

My wife, who in addition to preparing the "eats," has 
corrected and written the MSS. ; and to my daughter, Faye, 
who assisted in the typewriting; and to the many, many 
friends who have helped in various ways (many have 



Proem 9 

ordered copies in advance) we must express our heartiest 
appreciation. 

In conclusion: we request a prayerful and careful 
perusal of all herein^ trusting that when mistakes are dis- 
covered — and they will be^ for nothing is perfect — the 
reader will immediately but kindly communicate the same 
to the author or publisher^ to the end that corrections may 
be made according to facts and truth. But in your criti- 
cisms remember in love that this book has been born out 
of a busy evangelistic life^, and to make it possible meetings 
have been canceled^ or postponed. 

And now to those who have been waiting our coming 
we most gladly go to preach the gospel as God's power 
to savC;, and to you we send this more silent evangel with 
a prayer that you "may grow in grace and the knowledge 
of the truth." 



10 The Maple Lectures 



LECTURES AND APPENDICES THEMES 



I. The Higher Kingdom. 

App. A. 1. Temple. 2. Power of Satan. 3. Gen- 
esis First. 4. Science and The Plea. 
5. Memra-Logos. 6. Congregation or Church .f* 
7. Criticisms. 
II. Miracles. 

App. B. 1. Definitions. 2. The Draft Law. 
3. Origin of Life. 
III. The Birth of the Kingdom. 

App. C. 1. Scriptural References on Kingdom 
and Church. 2. Kingship of Jesus. 3. His- 
torical Dates. 
IV. The Early Church. 

App. D. 1. Chronology. 2. Gift of Tongues. 
3. Church of Christ. 4. The Divine Name. 
5. Burris and Seneca. 
V. The Apostacy. 

App. E. 1. Growth of the Church. 2. Days 
(Pagan). 
VI. The Reformation. 

App. F. 1. Matt., 16: 18. 2. References on Bap- 
tism. 
VII. The Restoration. 

App. G. 1. The Names. 2. Campbellian Tradi- 
tion. 3. Campbells' Church Affiliations. 
VIII. The Society System. 

App. H. 1. The Christian Association. 2. Instru- 
mental Music. 3. Man of Sin. 



THE HIGHER KINGDOM. 
(Lecture I.) 

"The invisible things of God since the creation of the world 
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made." — 
Paul. 

"The temporal is the husk and framework of the eternal, and 
thoughts can be uttered only through things." — Drummond. 

The Spectacular vs. the Spiritual. 

The material tendency in man seems to be innate. It 
is not easy for him to set his affections on things above; 
most people prefer things earthy — things tangible. The 
most effective, though not the most spiritual, attraction 
religiously smacks of the material — things seen. Romish 
missionaries, in becoming all things to all heathen, especially 
the Buddhist, light candles, burn incense, wear gaudy gar- 
ments, adore images; in fact, splash with spectacular 
splendor to win the heathen — and they do. The nearer the 
jungle, the more like the earth, the farther from heaven — 
the more materialistic admixtion is expediently occasioned. 

The Israelitish slaves who were accustomed to the 
Egyptian gods and worship were not able to grasp the 
Invisible Idea, nor satisfied with the Unseen, nor content 
when Moses was out of their sight; they wanted gods that 
would "go before them," so they made a golden calf from 
the Egyptian model and jewelry.^ The snake-bitten of 
Israel could see the brazen serpent on a pole in the midst 
of the camp. They could not, as yet, comprehend the 



^Ex., 3:21,22; 11:2,3; 12:35,36; 32:2,4,21-24; Acts, 7:39-43. 



13 The Maple Lectures 

Unseen Power.^ The putting away of sins was incom- 
prehensible by those crude subjects, but the scape-goat as 
a visible means of carrying away sins was more easily 
accepted.^ 

We are not sure which phase of the promise was most 
attractive to Abram — the material or the spiritual — when 
he left his country, kindred and gods, to go out into a place 
which he was to receive for an inheritance.* Maybe it was 
left for the writers after the coming of Jesus to stress the 
spiritual application.^ 

Israel's demand for "a king like all the nations" came 
from materialistic motives rather than spiritual.^ A study 
of the nations (Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, et al.), with 
their golden grandeur, everlasting pyramids, stately palaces, 
obelisks and sarcophagi and accouterments, does not leave 
us in doubt as to Israel's drift. The sequel — Solomon's 
silver and gold, "exceeding all the kings of the earth in 
riches;"^ his throne of ivory overlaid with the finest gold; 
the temple, seven and a half years in building, with its 
courts, altars and furniture (indeed "there was not the like 
made in any kingdom") — all showing unmistakably their 
materialistic spirit.® Their adoration for the temple, its 
repeated cleansings and rebuilding, caused the Jews to 
materialize the words of Jesus, "Destroy this temple and 
in three days I will raise it up," and retort with "Forty 
and six years was the temple in building and wilt thou 
raise it up in three days?"^ 



2 Num., 21 : 8, 9. 

3 Lev., 16:20-22. 

4 Gen., 12:1-3; Josh., 24:2,3. 

5 Acts, 3:25; Gal., 3 : 8. 
«I. Sam., 8:19, 20. 

^ L Kings, 10:23. 
8 1. Kings, 10: 20. 
»John, 2:19,20. See App. A. 1. 



The Higher Kingdom 13 

Messianic Expectations. 

Moreover, the Jews' Messianic expectations were 
political. They expected the coming King to redeem them 
from the political power of Rome and his kingdom to 
immediately "break in pieces and consume" all others. ^^ 
Perhaps all this formed the background for the satanic 
temptation and promise to give Jesus all the kingdoms of 
the world and the glory of them, upon conditions foreign 
to the purpose of Jesus. ^^ And in view of the fact that 
the devil departed from Him for a season, as Luke puts it, 
we can surmise that he returned in other forms to tempt 
Jesus with the earthly kingship. ^^ Inasmuch as the first 
followers of Jesus were Jewish, we should not criticise 
too severely those who sought the highest place in the 
kingdom, nor affirm a faith-only salvation from the male- 
factor's request, "Lord, remember me when thou comest 
in thy kingdom. "^^ 

The Kingdom CelestiaL 

With all this as an introduction, we can understand 
the Scriptural lesson of this evening. ■'^* Jesus had been 
bound by Annas, condemned by Caiaphas, sentenced by 
the Sanhedrin as an evil-doer; and for legal execution 
delivered to Pilate, who said, "Thine own nation and the 
chief priests delivered thee unto me. What hast thou 
done.^^" Jesus' defense was, "My kingdom is not of this 
world; if my kingdom were of this world then would my 
servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews, 
but now is my kingdom not from hence." And yet, with 



10 Dan., 2 : 44. 

" App. A. 2. 

"Mark, 11:1-11; John, 6:15; 12:12-16. 

"Matt., 20:20-28; cf. Mark, 10:35-45; Luke, 23:42. 

"John, 18:28. 



14 The Maple Lectures 

all this^ and the resurrection of Jesus a fact, some of His 
disciples — those who had been with Him much, yea the 
very Apostles — betrayed their Jewish conception of a tem- 
poral kingdom by asking, "Lord, dost thou at this time 
restore the kingdom to Israel ?"^^ 

Listen ! We look back nearly two thousand years and 
ridicule those who did not see beyond the temporal, but 
we graciously forget the emphasis many present-day 
religionists lay upon a kingdom of this world. Indeed, the 
drift (and may I say the spirit?) of denominationalism 
and digressionism is toward materialism and worldliness. 
Big churches (with sky-scraping steeples), big pipe-organs, 
big choirs — yea, big choruses — big showings financially; 
big THINGS terrestrial, is the goal of up-to-date church- 
ianity. 

The old darkey was orthodox when he saw his first 
steamboat. It puffed and pounded and shot smoke and 
fire from its smoke-stacks ; he fell to his knees and prayed, 
"Oh, Lord, de kingdom am a-comin'." Let me remind you 
white folks that the "kingdom of God cometh not with 
observation," as Godet comments, "in such a way as to be 
observed."^*^ 

And what shall we say of the teaching that Jesus will 
return to earth — reign personally and Davidicly on a ter- 
ranean throne from Jerusalem; and that the Zionist move- 
ment, the capture of the Holy City by General Allenby, 
are prophetic and preparatory steps to a temporal reign 
of Jesus .^ 



15 Acts, 1:1-6. 

18 Luke, 17: 20. "That kingdom which God will set up in the world will 
not become conspicuous and remarkable by any outward splendor, or 
worldly pomp, but by its inward power and efficacy upon the hearts and 
minds of men." — Cruden. 



The Higher Kingdom 15 

Science Substantiates Scripture. 

Notwithstanding such theories may be fascinating to 
some, we content ourselves, for the time being at least, with 
a consideration of The Higher Kingdom — a scientific and 
Scriptural subject — feeling that no single fact in science 
can ever discredit a fact in religion. Science and the 
Scriptures must not contradict; though no man can study 
modern science without a change coming over his view 
of truth. "Science cannot overthrow faith; but it shakes 
it."^''^ Geology and Genesis are two witnesses to the God 
of creation; and their testimony is made stronger by cross- 
examination. If "nature is not a mere image or emblem 
of the spiritual/' but "a working model/' then it may be our 
spiritual service to study the Kingdoms of Nature. 

We had camped in the wooded green on the lake shore. 
In the evening we watched, from our tented porch, the 
waves as they lashed the sandy beach, and flashed and 
foamed in the moonlight. Hardly had the moon bidden us 
adieu in the cloudless horizon when the stars twinkled to 
us their greetings. The whippoorwills had favored us 
with their shrill preludes, the frogs broke in occasionally 
with their bass voices. Early the next morning we took 
from the lake fish for the breakfast fry, after which we 
took the morning plunge and played in tlie silvery sand. 

We came out to rest, and think — ^of nature, her varied 
forms ; and — God. 

One day we stood on the ridge. A lovely picture ex- 



^^ Drummond says, "For a time I succeeded in keeping the science and 
religion shut off from one another in two separate compartments of my 
mind. But gradually the wall of partition showed symptoms of giving 
way. The two fountains of knowledge also slowly began to overflow, and 
finally their waters met and mingled. Tlie great change was in the 
compartment which held the religion." Natural Law. Preface, p. 6. See 
App. A. 7. 



16 The, Maple Lectures 

tended before our eyes. A virgin meadow stretched down 
a valley clad in emerald green. Innumerable blossoms of 
dandelions and bluebells rose from it like golden and violet 
flames. A gray granite wall, a witness of primordial days, 
formed the background to this fresh wave of full life. 
Above it, like a dark blue stage setting, rose the fir forest 
and the opposite mountain wall. And far, far beyond it, 
almost merging into the soft blue sky with a slightly 
deeper tint, appeared the outline of the giant mountains. 

A snow-white cloud, glistening in the sunlight, floated 
slowly and phantom-like towards us, coming down from 
the unknown distance beyond, and disappeared above us 
in the glittering light. The bright glow of the sun was 
diffused throughout it all, lending charm to the flowery 
meadow, the granite and the mountain forest — a great unity 
sunk in harmonious tranquillity. We heard far-off voices, 
human beings passing by, shielded from our sight by the 
great stone blocks. And we mused and questioned our 
souls. 

Nature presented to us panoramically a composite pic- 
ture of three kingdoms closely related, yet differing the 
one from the other as the stars differ in glory. 

The Creation Story Inspired. 

We recalled our school days — physical geography facts : 
the mineral, the vegetable, the animal kingdoms. We re- 
read the creation story and to our surprise found that the 
first ten verses have to do with the mineral kingdom, the 
next ten with the vegetable and the remainder with the 
animal.^^ 

Friends, if any of you question the inspiration of 



"App. A. 3. 



The Higher Kingdom - 17 

Genesis Firsts let me ask how it came about that the author 
penned and divided the story so scientifically? Borrowed 
his science from the Babylonians or others? Replying, I 
remind you, first, that the cuneiform records of Babylonia 
and Assyria, or the hieroglyphics of Egypt, or the Alex- 
andrian library do not reveal such scientific divisions of 
nature; secondly, Linnaeus was the first to arrange nature's 
forms into three great kingdoms, and that was not until 
1735 A. D., possibly 3,000 years after Moses wrote. A 
mere guess, you say? Then let the skeptical scientists 
write by guess. No, it won't do; it won't do. There's 
only one solution — inspiration, 

Drummond said, "The best proof of a thing is that we 
see it; if we do not see it, perhaps proof will not convince 
us of it;" so I call your attention to the first chart. (See 
following page.) 

The Kingdoms Co-ordinate. 

Scientifically speaking, the first kingdom created was 
the mineral, which contained all the chemical elements 
essential to the then future forms of nature. Latterly, 
the plant sends its roots down into this lower kingdom (as 
you see on the chart), gathers the inorganic elements, lifts 
them up into a higher and makes them an integral part 
of the vegetable kingdom; and the lower animals feeding 
on the plants (and the lowest in their kingdom) appro- 
priate the necessary elements, and by the law of their 
being transform them into animal entities, thereby trans- 
lating the same into a higher realm. The higher animal — 
man — subsists on the lower (plants and animals) and re- 



18 



The Maple Lectures 




Note. — This little drawing shows from a chemical 
standpoint the harmony of nature. The primary elements — 
viz., hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen — were in the universe 
before the earth took form. They were the bases of both 
plant and animal life — and are now. Planets in their 
primitive condition were and are surrounded by hydrogen, 
which, when united with oxygen (the heavier element), 
water resulted. 



Plants take in carbonic acid and throw oif oxygen; and 
animals take in oxygen and give oif carbonic acid. The 
union of oxygen and nitrogen forms air for animals (and 
plants at nighty. 

Can it be that all this just happened, or is it the work 
of a Higher Intelligence.'* 

(Study this in connection with App. A. 3.) 



The Higher Kingdom 19 

forms them into moral and spiritual beings^ thus making 
them objects of the higher kingdom. ^^ 

Thus^ with this beautiful systematic arrangement^ we 
must conceive in nature: harmony, the law of continuity 
and progress — that is, the continuous working of the 
higher powers to reach and re-form the lower forms to 
prepare them for the higher utility. With these facts before 
us we are ready to affirm with Horace Bushnell that "God 
has, in fact, erected another and higher system, that of 
spiritual being and government, for which nature exists;" 
and Trench likewise. ^° 

In view of these fundamental principles we can under- 
stand the divine plan: Jesus came down from above (a 
higher sphere) into a lower, took upon Himself the form 
of man;^-^ became, in a sense, the Son of man;^^ was 
tempted in all points like as we,^^ that he might reach and 
rescue man, and, by regeneration, make him a fit subject 
for the higher kingdom — the kingdom of God. 

And if I may speculate (God forbid that I should be 
dogmatic or autocratic in any presentations), let me say 
that I believe from psychology and the Scriptures that 
man is a dual being; and when the outward man perishes 
(for, "Dust thou art, to dust returneth; Was not spoken of 
the soul"), the inner man which is renewed day by day 



^^ Should any say my delving into science is digressing, please read 
App. A. 4. 

2* "The world of nature is thruout a witness for the world of spirit: 
proceeds from the same hand, grows out of the same root and is consti- 
tuted for that very end." (See following page.) 

21 Mark, 10:45; Luke, 22:27; John, 1:14; Rom., 8:3; II. Cor., 8:9; 
Phil., 2:5-8; I. Tim., 3:16. 

22 Matt., 8:20. Jesus repeatedly refers to himself as the Son of man. 
The phrase is used in the gospels 51 times — 23 by Matthew, 6 by Mark, 
16 by Luke, 6 by John. Stephen saw the Son of man standing at the 
right hand of God. Acts, 7:56. 

23 Luke, 4:13; Heb., 2:18; 4:15. 



20 The Maple Lectures 

lives on and on and on in that higher realm from whence 
came Memra-Logos ;^* and there has a conscious existence.^^ 

The Ekklesia — Congregation — Church — Kingdom? 

Leaving, then, the speculative and scientific aspects of 
this higher kingdom, let us consider it Scripturally. By a 
study of the four records we find Matthew, for the most 
part, using the expression, the "kingdom of heaven," 
"kingdom of God" occasionally, "kingdom of their father," 
"my father's kingdom," "thy kingdom," and sometimes 
simply "the kingdom." Matthew, Luke and John use "his 
kingdom" — that is, the father's and Christ's. Mark and 
Luke prefer "the kingdom of God." They never say the 
"kingdom of heaven." So with John, who uses the "king- 
dom of God" only once or twice. ^^ 

The word "church" occurs only twice in the gospels, 
both times in Matthew — 16: 18, "Upon this rock I will 
build my church;" and, 18: 17, "Tell it unto the church;" 
and we are not sure that the last, where "congregation" 
is a better translation, as in the margin of the R. V., refers 
to the church of Christ even prospectively. Some of our 
best informed and good brethren say that "congregation" 
is truer to the original "ekklesia" than church. ^'^ 

And here let me announce that I shall not attempt to 
settle or argue whether the kingdom and church are identical 
or not, nor need the question of a coming kingdom enter 
this discussion. Edersheim, however, says, "In fact, an 
analysis of 119 passages in the N. T. where the expression 



24App. A. 5. 

25 "It is the want of the discerning faculty, the clairvoyant power of 
seeing the eternal in the temporal, rather than the failure of the reason, 
that begets the skeptic." — Drummond. See App. A. 7. 

26 John, 3:3,5. 

27 See App. A. 6. 



The Higher Kingdom 21 

'kingdom' occurs shows that it means the 'rule of God' 34 
times ; manifested in and through Christ and apparent in 
the church 28 times. "^^ In my repeated references to the 
kingdom or church please take me to mean the rule of God 
through Christ the King. Are we not safe in saying that 
the kingdom always includes the church ?^^ 

The Essential Elements. 

It is fundamentally important to consider the elements 
of the kingdom. Firsts comes the foundation or basic 
principle. For instance, the underlying theory of the 
German Empire (and others too) is semi-theocratic. The 
"divine right of kings" breeds autocracy. The fact "that 
all men are created equal" and "endowed with certain 
inalienable rights/' and that the governing power comes 
not from above, but from the consent of the governed, 
created the American Republic, or democracy so called, a 
government supposedly by the people, of the people, and 
for the people. 

What is, then, the fundamental fact of Christ's king- 
dom .f* From Matt., 16: 18, "Thou art Peter and upon this 
rock I will build my church," some hold that Peter is the 
foundation and hence the first papal head. This view 
stands (or falls) on the meaning of two original terms in 
connection with the language. 

Names originally had a specific meaning. Adam means 
red (and I am not so sure that we can brag about our 
Adamic ancestors being white) ; Eve means life ; David, 
beloved; Philip, lover of horses; Nathaniel, gift of God, 
and Jesus, Saviour. 



28 Life and Times of Jesus, Vol. I., p. 270. 

29 Study Matt., 13: 18; John, 3: 3, 5; Col., 1: 13; Heb., 12: 28. App. C. 
has all the references on kingdom and church. 



^ The Maple Lectures 

The word Peter^ from "petros/' means a stone^ and 
Jesus said to him^ "Thou art Simon^ the son of John; thou 
shalt be called Cephas (which by interpretation is Peter, 
or a stone). "^^ The other word is "petra" — a rock; that 
is, the unbroken, immovable mass. A stone is a fragment 
of the rock — therefore shifty and not substantial. Peter 
had confessed Jesus as the Son of God, and Jesus said, 
"Upon this rock ('petra') — the solid, enduring truth — I 
will build my church." 

This foundation rock was a subject of prophecy,^^ and 
the New Testament writers undoubtedly make such refer 
to Jesus. ^^ Yet Paul, in Eph., 2 : 20, includes the Apostles 
and prophets in the foundation of the Ephesian congre- 
gation. 

Jews Denied the Foundation-Fact. 

The Jews accepted the Messianic prophecies, but 
denied that the man — Jesus of Nazareth — fulfilled them, 
and agreed that if any confessed Him to be Christ he 
should be put out of the synagogue. ^^ While Saul, as an 
ardent Jew, accepted tlie Messiah, as prophetically pic- 
tured to him, he rejected Jesus as this Messiah. So when 
on his way to Damascus he asked, "Who art thou. Lord?" 
he was told, "I am Jesus of Nazareth whom thou perse- 
cutest." 

The good confession had to do primarily with the 
Messiahship and Sonship of Jesus rather than with his 
other splendid characteristics. Do conditions and circum- 
stances ever change the nature or subject-matter of the 
good confession? 



30 John, 1 : 43. 

31 Ps., 118: 22; Is., 8: 14; 28: 16. 

32 Matt., 21:42; Mark, 12:10,11; Luke, 20:17; Acts, 4:11; Rom., 9: 
I. Cor., 3:11; 10:4; I. Pet., 2:6-8. 



The Higher Kingdom 23 

Matthew Henry^ commenting on Matt.^ 16: 16, says, 
" 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,' con- 
tains that fundamental truth respecting the person and 
office of Christ upon which as a rock He would build His 
church. "^ 

The King of Kings. 

The second element is the kingship. As His Messiah- 
ship and Sonship was the foundation, so His kingship 
must be accepted. 

The Jews believed in a coming king, and by the 
prophecies taught others their expectations. Especially 
was this so in thie dispersions, where the synagogue, insti- 
tuted expedientially as a place to worship and to teach 
both Jews and Gentiles, (for one side was for the Gentiles 
exlusively) became a means to evangelize and proselyte. 
We understand why the wise men from the east (may I 
say from Chaldea?) came and inquired, "Where is he that 
is born king of the Jews?" 

To those who teach that Jesus is not king now, but will 
be crowned some time in the future, I present the Book 
and ask a careful perusal of all the Scriptures pertaining 
to his kingship.^* 

Territory in which the king reigns is the third element 
of the kingdom, but in view of the generally accepted fact 
that the world is the territory, we need not spend time 
discussing this phase of the Scriptural subject further than 
to say that disloyalty to the king, or ignorance of His will 
or law, do not prove that he is not king, nor does it de- 
throne Him.^^ 



** App. C. 2 for references on the Kingship. 

35 Matt., 22:14; 28:19; Mark, 16:15; Rom., l:14-li 



24 The Maple Lectures 

However^ in considering the fourth element — the sub- 
jects — we come to the "bone of contention." Some say all 
are subjects of a loving Father^ who will ultimately save 
all — and affirm universalism ; while others teach that in- 
fants of believing parents are Scriptural subjects, and as 
a consequence practice infant "rantism." It is not within 
my present province to disprove or debate these positions, 
as I feel sure my teaching, being Scriptural, will commend 
itself to all unprejudiced thinking people. 

I believe the taught ones are the only Scriptural sub- 
jects of King Jesus, and to this end I read fiVst John, 6: 45, 
"It is written in the prophets. And they shall all be taught 
of God. Everyone that hath heard from the Father and 
hath learned cometh unto me." You note Jesus says that 
this is written in the prophets, so we go back to the prophets 
and read what they wrote. Isa., 54:13: "And all thy 
children shall be taught of Jehovah." Jer., 31:33,34 
(referring to the new covenent) reads: "I will put my law 
in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; 
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And 
they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every 
man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all 
know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, 
saith Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their 
sin will I remember no more." And Mic, 4:2, says: 
"Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and 
to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of 
his ways, and we will walk in his paths." 

Jesus, therefore, commanded His disciples to "teach 
all nations," and the early church could not be other than 
a teaching institution.^^ 



The Higher Kingdom 25 

He Governs By Law. 

Lastly^ we observe the law by which the King governs 
the taught ones; and this He must do by clear and written 
law^ that the subjects may understand and obey intelli- 
gently; otherwise the law-giver is unjust and the subjects 
(if such they may be called) are thrown into intellectual, 
moral and religious confusion. 

There used to be a children's book, "The Chance World," 
which described a world in which everything happened by 
chance (like getting married), not by fixed law. The sun 
might rise, or it might not; or it might appear at any hour; 
or the moon might come up instead. One time the moon 
might outshine the sun, another time it might not shine 
at all. One day the sun might appear round, the next day 
square and the next triangular. When children were born 
they might have one head or a dozen, and those heads 
might not be on their shoulders — there might be no shoul- 
ders — but arranged about the limbs. Should one jump 
into the air he could not predict by law precedent whether 
he would ever come down again ; or that he came down 
yesterday was not evidence that he could next time; or 
gravitation might be so changed that it would be impossible 
to stop coming down — the impetus might drive him through 
a three-story house and dash him to pieces somewhere near 
the center of the earth. The points of the compass shifted 
so that east changed to west, or even down. In this 
hypothetical chance world cause and effect were abolished; 
harmony, unity and continuity and law were annihilated; 
and reason was impossible in a deranged world of this sort. 



3" Matt., 5:19; 28:20; 22:10; Mark, 6:34; John, 3:2; Acts, 1:1; 
5:25,42; 15:35; 18:8; 21:28; 28:31; Rom., 2:21; 12:7; I, Cor., 4:17; 
14:19; Gal., 6:6; Col., 1:28; 3:16; I. Tim., 2:7;>3:2; 4:11,16; 5:17; 
II. Tim., 2:2; 3:16; Tit., 2:3,13; Heb., 5:12. 



26 The Maple Lectures 

Sin^ which is lawlessness (the word "law-less-ness" could 
not find a place in our vocabulary) could not be wrong, 
and man could not be disobedient — he could not possibly 
know the meaning of obedience; for what would there be 
to obey? In a world without fixed law reason would be 
dethroned and man would degenerate. 

Similarly, in religion: there must be a standard of 
conduct, a written law, and these adapted to man's mental 
condition; otherwise we have a lunatic religious world 
drifting as a ship in storm without a compass, sail or 
anchor. 

So the All-Wise One, looking to our good, promised 
through the prophets that "out of Zion shall go forth the 
law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem," and "I 
will put my law in their inward parts, and in their hearts 
will I write it."^^ 

That law is beautifully revealed in the New Testament 
in contradistinction to the law of Moses, which passed 
away with the giving of the new law.^^ 

As the kingdoms of nature and the higher kingdom 
began in miracles and are governed by law, our next lecture 
must necessarily be on "Miracles." 



s^Isa., 2:3, cf. Mic, 4:2; Jer., 31:33; II. Cor., 3:1-11. 

38 Gal., 6:2; Heb., 8:10; 10:16; James, 1:25; 2:8,12; 4:12. 



The Higher Kingdom 27 

APPENDICES TO LECTURE I. 



App. A. 1. 

Temple — Built and dedicated by Solomon (about 1000 
B. C). II. Kings, 6:37,38. 

Burned by Nebuchadnezzar (587-6). II. Chr., 36:1; 
Dan., 1: 1,2; 5:2. 

Rebuilt by Zerubbabel (520-516). Ezra, 1:1-11; 2: 18; 
3:7; 4: 1-16; 6: 1-14; cf. Is., 44: 28. 

Cleansings — First, II. Kings, 12:4 (875); second, II. 
Chr., 29:1— (725); third, II. Chr., 34:1— (540); 
fourth, desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes (168), 
who set up a small altar to Zeus Olympus, on which 
he offered up parts of a sow, smearing the furniture 
with the liquid in which the sow was cooked. Three 
years later Judas, the Maccabean, recaptured Jeru- 
salem, made new Temple furniture, removed the pol- 
luted parts. (Read Isa., 44:28; Hag., 1:2; Zech., 
1:16; 4:8-10; 6:12-15; 8:9-15, in connection with 
Dan., 8:9-14, and maybe you will conclude that the 
cleansing of the Temple and the fulfillment of many 
prophecies, which some bring down to these last days, 
took place in the Maccabean period, and that the "little 
horn" of Dan., 8:9, was Antiochus Epiphanes.) 

Adoration For — Ps., 5:7; 138:2; Ez., 46:2,3; Matt., 
21: 12, 13; 26:61; John, 2: 13-17; Acts, 6: 13; 21:28. 

Herod Rebuilt— (B. C. 19 to 27 A. D.). John, 2:20. 

Desecration and Destruction Foretold — Dan., 9:27; 
11:31; cf. Matt., 24:2, 15; Luke, 19:41-44; 21:5,6. 

Destroyed by the Romans A. D. 70 under Titus, the 
Roman General. 



28 The Maple Lectures 

App. A. 2. 

Concerning the power and authority of Satan we give 
for consideration the following from The Word and Work 
of January^ 1916: 

Satan, the prime mover of earth's sin, himself a rebel, a spirit 
of power and great might, who betrayed his trust, and has misused 
his power, holds this whole world in his bosom (I. John, 5: 19) and 
is the prince of this world (John 14:30) and its god (II. Cor., 
4:4). With his angels and sub-rulers, "principalities and powers, 
and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places," and the 
world-rulers of this age of darkness (Eph. 6) he has a rebellious 
kingdom within the domain of God (Matt., 12:26). And to estab- 
lish an unauthorized government within the limits of an established 
government constitutes the crime of high-treason. Howbeit God 
has suffered it thus far, for reasons worthy of His infinite wisdom. 
Nor has He as yet stripped Satan of the power and authority 
which he has so criminally abused. 

Satan could show the Lord Jesus Christ all the kingdoms of 
the earth in a moment of time, and say in accordance with facts, 
"To thee will I give all this authority and the glory of them: for it 
hath been delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it." 
(Luke, 4: 5, 6). And the Lord's refusal of the offer left, and leaves 
until yet, these kingdoms and this authority in Satan's hands. 
(11. Cor., 4:4; Eph., 2:2; 6:11,12; I, John, 5:19.) 

There are, however, a few points to be noted. That Satan 
holds this power as God's unfaithful vassal, not of himself, he 
already betrays in the speech to the Lord Jesus, above quoted. 
"All this authority ... to me it has been delivered." And who 
delivered it to him? From whom did he get it? By whose suf- 
ferance has he held it thus long? The answer is simply that he 
received it from the sovereign God, whose Kingdom ruleth over 
all. We note further that Satan appears in the muster of God's 
servants (the "sons of God"- and gives account of himself to 
Jehovah. (Job, 1 and 2.) And the same scripture shows also 
that Satan is limited in his operations, and must ask God's per- 
mission for any special thing he desires to do. (See also Luke, 
22:31.) And that his continuance in power is short is also plainly 
set forth in the word of God. 

So then, although Satan may truly say that he controls the 
world's kingdoms, and gives their authority to whom he will, he 
is after all but handling, or mishandling the power that belongs to 
God; "for there is no power but of God: the powers that be are 
ordained of God." (Rom., 13.) And though Satan gives rule to 
whom he will, yet the hand of God overrules marvelously; and it 
is in the last analysis God that putteth down one and raiseth up 
another. (Ps., 75:'7.) 



The Higher Kingdom 29 

Yet some of us don't regard that old boy's "reputation 
for truth and veracity" as the best. We doubt if he could 
truly say that he controlled the kingdoms of the world and 
was able to deliver the goods^ as he stated to Jesus. The 
following are a few reasons why we consider him so con- 
temptible: 1. He was more subtle than any beast of the 
field. Gen.^ 3:1. 2. He lied to mother Eve^ for God said^ 
"in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die/' 
but Satan said^ "Ye shall not surely die." Gen.^ 2: 16^ 17; 
3 : 4. We prefer to give old Nick the lie and let God be 
true. 3. He beguiled Eve in his craftiness. II. Cor.^ 11:3; 
I. Tim., 2: 14. 4. He sinned from the beginning. I. John, 
3:8. 5. He deceives the world. Rev., 12: 9; 20: 3, 8, 10. 
So we conclude with Jesus (John, 8: 44), "He was a mur- 
derer from the beginning, and standeth not in the truth, 
because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, 
he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father 
thereof." 

App. A. 3. 

"Genesis" First Revised (with notes) . 

I.— THE MINERAL KINGDOM. 

1. In the beginning^ God created^ the heavens^ and the earth. 

2. And the earth was waste and void;* and darkness was upon 
the face of the deep;^ and the Spirit of God moved'' upon the face'' 
of the waters.^ 

3. And God said. Let there be light^: and there was light. 

4. And God saw the light that it was good: and God divided^^ 
the light from the darkness. 

1 'Beginning' — Not 4004 B. C. as Ussher and others following errone- 
ously state, Moses gives no specific dates. Others presume. 

2 'created' — Three Hebrew words: (1) 'bara' — create, to bring into 
existence. — Gen. 1:1; 21:27. (2) 'asah,' make, constitute, appoint. Vv. 7, 
16, 25, 26, 27, 31. cf. I. Kings, 12:31; II. Kings, 21:6. (3) 'zatoar'— to 
form or fashion. Is., 43 : 7 uses the three. 

^'heavens' — Not heaven (A. V.). But the universe — Solar system. 

* 'waste and void' — 'tohu, bohu' — Scripturally naught, nothingness, 
empty, formless, void. Scientifically, nebulous, infinitely attenuated, 
invisible, omorphous, unshaped. 



30 The Maple Lectures 

5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called 
Night. And there was evening and there was morning, 

One Day. 

6. And God said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of 
the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 

7. And God made the firmamenf^, and divided}^ the waters 
which were under the firmament from the waters which were above 
the firmament: and it was so. 

8. And God called the firmament heaven. And there was 
evening and there was morning, 

A Second Day. 

9. And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered 
together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 

10. And God called the dry land Earth; and the g.athering 
together of the waters called he Seas; and God saw that it wa^s 
good}^ 

II.— THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 

11. And God said. Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding 
seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the 
seed thereof, upon the earth; and it was so. 

12. And the earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed 
after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, wherein is the seed 
thereof, after their kind, and God saw that it was good. 



^ 'deep' — 'te hohm' — Scripture ; profound depths and mystery. Strange, 
awe-inspiring, mysterious depth. The LXX. uses 'abyss' (Gen., 49:25; 
Deut., 33: 13; Job, 28: 14; Ps., 148: 7). Science, greater by some unknown 
amount than the diameter of Neptune's orbit (at least 115,041,600,000,000,- 
000,000,000,000,000 cu. mi. of Nebula.) 

« 'moved' — Brooded, throbbingly moved (Deut., 32: 11; Jer., 23: 9). The 
kind of motion science refers to as the first. Science does not account for 
the origin of motion. The Scripture attributes it to the 'Spirit of God.' 

■^ 'face of — ' Scientists disagree as to just wliere rotary motion began, 
whether at the center of the nebula or on the external. The Scripture 
says "on the face of — ." That settles it. 

* 'waters' — 'mahyim' — fluid, mobile, non-solid. May mean H2O, but here 
the original nebulous, gaseous heavens — embryonic universe. 

» 'light'. Science says : Motion first, light follows, and finally GOOD 
light. That's God's order. 

" 'division of light and darkness'. Ages pass. Planets placed. Earth 
cools to a non-luminous body. Absence of self-illumination and the con- 
tinuing of axial rotation makes said division. 

" 'firmament' — Heb., 'rakia' 'expanse.' The Septuagint (LXX.) 'stere- 
oma' Gr. is not true to the original, as it expresses a solidity not found 
in 'rakia.' For this reason the translators used 'stereoma' (it supported 
their crude scientific notion) as the equivalent to 'rakin' and the Latin 
'firmamentum' became the antecedent to our 'firmament.' 

" 'waters divided' — Water, H2O, is the result of the union of 2 parts of 
Hydrogen and 1 of Oxygen, The water on the earth now is sufiBcient to 
cover it to a depth of 10,000 miles. 



The Higher Kingdom 31 

13. And there was evening and there was morning, 
A Third Day. 

14-. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of 
heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for 
signs, and for seasons, and for days and years: 

15. and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to 
give light upon the earth: and it was so. 

16. And God made the two great Jights; the greater light to 
rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the 
stars also. 

17. And God set them in the firmament of heaven to give light 
upon the earth. 

18. and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide 
the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 

19. And there was evening and there was morning, 

A Fourth Day. 

III.— THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 

20. And God said, let the waters swarm with swarms of Living 
creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open firmament 
of heaven. 

21. And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living 
creature that moveth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after their 
kind, and every winged bird after its kind, and God saw that it 
was good. 

22. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, 
and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. 

23. And there was evening and there was morning, 

A Fifth Day. 

24. And God said. Let the earth bring forth living creatures 
after their kind: cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the 
earth after their kind, and it was so. 

25. And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, 
and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon 
the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 



Originally, when our globe was in a gaseous or molten condition, water 
was not one of its elements, but it was surrounded, first by an abundance 
of Hydrogen, which exists in large quantity around the sun (and indeed 
all gaseous or nebulous bodies), and distantly with Oxygen. The latter 
being the heavier, there was a tendency toward the planet, but the heated 
mass exerted a repellent force. So when the Oxygen came in contact with 
the Hydrogen the result was water; first a spray, but instantly trans- 
formed into steam and vapor, and gas (carbonic acid) was eventually 
generated, then drops, streams, torrents, and deluges poured down upon 
the hot, smooth surface of the earth. This produced a boiling, seething 
sea, throwing back steam, vapor and clouds, which by condensation was 
returned again and again in liquid form. 



33 The Maple Lectures 



26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our 
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and 
over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all 
the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the 
earth. 

27. And God created man in his own image, in the image of 
God created he him; male and female created he them. 

28. And God blessed them: and God said unto them. Be fruit- 
ful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and 
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the 
heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 

29. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding 
seed, which is upon the face of all the earth and every tree, in 
which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for 
food, 

30. and to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the 
heavens, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein 
there is life, I have given every green herb for food: and it was so. 

31. And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it 
was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning. 

The Sixth Day. 

"The Days" are epoch-marking, rather than consecutive ones, 
with millions of ages intervening. As illustrations: 

Americans Six Days: Discovery, One Day. First Settlement, A 
Second Day. Quebec Taken, A Third Day. Independence De- 
clared, A Fourth Day. Constitution Adopted, A Fifth Day. Lee's 
Surrender, The Sixth Day. Yet there were many other ordinary 
days intervening. 

This process continued for a^es. Imagine a million Niagaras pouring 
into as many Etnas, and you have a faint idea of the throes through 
which the earth passed. Eventually, when it had cooled so that water 
(both Oxygen and Hydrogen) remained on the earth, and cloiids were 
formed by simple evaporation as now, the expanse was made which 
divided the waters (liquid) under it from the waters (clouds) above it. 

^^ 'it was good' — 'kalon' - good, beautiful, complete fitness, present per- 
fection for specific purpose. This verdict (6 times with the recapitulatory- 
everything 'was very good,' v. 31) follows each stage of progress, except 
that of the second day. If, as science teaches, the atmosphere was 
heavily loaded with carbonic acid gas (13 per cent fatal to animal life, 
5 to 6 per cent injurious) and very poisonous, it was 'fortunate'? the 
verdict is omitted here. This scripture seems scientific. 

1* V; 9 — Depositions of water caused upheavals (mountains) 'dry land' 
to appear, water gathers in the lower place. (Notes pertain to The 
Mineral Kingdom only; with V. 10 plant life is introduced.) 

15 V. 14 indicates that the lights have a new functioh — 'for signs and 
seasons, days and years.' The inclination of the earth to 23% degrees 
came at this time, resulting in the above. Ample scientific facts support 
this. 

1" Vv. 15 and 16 are recapitulations. The two lights were created with 
the 'heavens.' Yet 'asah,' 'appoint,' 'constitute,' not 'bara,' is used. 



The Higher Kingdom 33 

App. A. 4. 

Moore in "History of the Disciples/' p. 74^ says on 
science : 

"While the early pioneers of the movement said very little 
about the scientific character of their plea, it is evident to the 
careful student of their history that the plea is scientific in a very 
high degree. It evidently fits in with all the known facts of 
nature and thus co-ordinates nature and grace, making them 
co-operants instead of opponents, as many did, especially in the 
early days of the movement. There is no necessary antagonism 
between science and religion, when both of these are well under- 
stood, and occupy their respectively legitimate positions. An- 
tagonism between them is only possible where there is ignorance 
with respect to one or the other, or both." 

App. A. 5. 

On Memra-Logos read the following: 

"The Chaldee-Paraphrasts, the most ancient Jewish writers 
extant, made use of the word Memra, which signifies the Word, in 
those places where Moses put the name Jehovah. And it is 
generally thought that under this term the Paraphrasts would 
intimate the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity. Now 
their testimony is so much the more considerable, as having lived 
before Christ, they are irrefragable witnesses of the sentiments 
of their nation concerning this article, since their Targ.um, or 
Explication, has always been, and still is, in universal esteem 
among the Jews. And as they ascribe to Memra all the attributes 
of the Deity, it is concluded from thence that they believed the 
divinity of the Word. 

"They say that it was Memra, or the Word, which created, the 
world; which appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai; which gave him 
the law; which spoke to him face to face; which brought Israel 
out of Egypt; which marched before the people; which wrought 
all these miracles; which are recorded in the book of Exodus. It 
was the same Word that appeared to Abraham in the plain of 
Mamre; that was seen of Jacob at Bethel, to whom Jacob made 
his vow, and acknowledged as God, Gen., 28 : 20." — Cruden. 

Plato lived from 427 to 347 B. C.^ and was the greatest 
philosopher of the age. He was an idealist — as we must 
be to retain courage and hope. Accordingly he taught that 
"Ideas are the sole realities ; they are eternal and unchange- 
able, and existing only in heaven ; the things which we see 



34 The Maple Lectures 

in this world are mere shadows of those heavenly forms." 
He taught the immortality of the soul and counseled all 
to live justly and hold to the heavenly way, "And it shall 
be well with us, both in this life and in the pilgrimage of 
a thousand years." 

"Logos/' a Greek word from "lego/' to speak, and 
means literally "a word/' is traceable to Philo, a Jew and 
Pharisee as well as a philosopher, who was born in Alex- 
andria about the time Jesus was born in Bethlehem. In 
the early part of the first century he wrote to reconcile 
the teaching of Plato with that of the Jewish prophets^ 
who referred to their Messiah as the "Logos" or Word; 
he aimed to show that the divine revelation given to the 
Jews was consistent with the highest philosophy known 
to the ancients. 

While the personality of the "logos" became more and 
more distinct in the later writings in the O. T., Philo 
identified "logos" with Plato's doctrine of the divine "nous," 
or mind, or reason. 

Gnosticism was a combination of notions of ancient 
philosophy, Magian theories, Judaism and Christianity, 
blended with the conclusions of Plato and Philo. The 
destructive dogma — that Jesus was human, but not divine 
only as others were divine — caused, so critics say, John 
(about the close of the first century) to write his gospel 
specifically to substantiate the divinity of Jesus. 

Using, in part, their own phraseology, he plunged, at 
the very first, into their philosophy thus : "In the begin- 
ning was the 'logos' and the 'logos' was with God, and 
the 'logos' was God. The same was in the beginning with 
God. All things were made through him; and without 
him was not anything made that hath been made. In him 



The Higher Kingdom 35 

was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light 
shineth in darkness and the darkness apprehended it not." 
John, 1:1-5. 



App. A. 6. 

"On "congregation" for "church/' Brother J. R. Hunt 
has compiled the following facts: 

"Upon this rock I will build my congregation." Matt., 16: 18. 

"Tell it unto the congregation," etc. Matt., 18:17. 

Doddridge, on Matt., 18:17, says: "This is one of the many 
scriptures which would have been very intelligible if they had 
not been learnedly obscured by ingenious men, whose interest it 
has been to spread a cloud over them. I am more and more con- 
vinced that the vulgar sense of the New Testament — that is, the 
sense in which an honest man of plain sense would take it, on first 
reading the original, or any good translation — is almost everywhere 
the true general sense of any passage; though an acquaintance 
with language and antiquity, with an attentive meditation on the 
text and context, may illustrate the spirit and energy of a number 
of places, in a manner which could not otherwise be learned. The 
old English editions of 1539 and 1541 render it, "Tell it to the 
congregation;" and, I think, properly enough. It signifies, in 
general, an assembly, or a number of people called together, on 
whatever occasion, as is well known. (C/. Acts, 19: 32, 38.) It is, in 
the New Testament, generally used, as here, for a particular 
assembly. (Acts, 14:23; I. Cor., 4:17; 14:23; 16:19), but some- 
times it is used for the ivhole body of Christians ; because they 
are now called out from the world, and are at last to be gathered 
together in the presence of Christ, their head (II. Thess., 2:1), and 
to dwell forever with each other, and with him." 

Campbell, on the same passage, observes: "I know of no way 
of reachin}? the sense of our Lord's instructions, but by under- 
standing his words so as they must have been understood by his 
hearers, from the use that then prevailed. The word ekkl^sia 
occurs frequently in the Septuagint, and is that by which the 
Hebrew J^ahal is commonly translated. That word we find used 
in two different, but related senses, in the Old Testament. One 
is for a whole nation, considered as constituting one common- 
wealth or polit5^ In this sense, the people of Israel are denomi- 
nated pasa e e^^/esra Israel, and pasa e ekk^esia Oeh. The other is 
for a particular congregation or assembly, either actually con- 
vened, or accustomed to convene in the same place. In this sense 
it was applied to those who were wont to assemble in any particu- 



36 The Maple Lectures 



lar synagogue; for every synagogue had its own ekkUsia. And, 
as ithe word s^nagoge was sometimes employed to signify, not the 
house, but the people, these two Greek words were often used 
promiscuously. Now, as the nature of the thing sufficiently shows 
that our Lord, in this direction, could not have used the word in 
the first of the two senses above given, and required that every 
private quarrel should be made a national affair, we are under 
the necessity of understanding it in the last, as regarding the 
particular congregation to which the parties belonged. What adds 
great probability to this, as Lightfoot and others have observed, 
is the evidence we have that the like usage actually obtained in 
the synagogue, and in the primitive church. Whatever foundation, 
therefore, there may be from those books of scripture that, concern 
a later period, for the notion of a church representative, it wauld 
be contrary to all the rules of criticism to suppose that our Lqrd 
used this term in a sense wherein it could not then be understood 
by -any one of his hearers; or that he would say congregation, for 
so the word literally imports, when he meant only a few heads 
or directors." 

The term church, or kirk, is an abbreviation of the words J(uriou 
oikos, the house of the Lord, aijd does not translate thie term. 

Church, EkkUsia, ekklesia, congregation, assembly, occurs one 
hundred and twenty times in the sacred books. It is derived from 
ekk^eo, I call out, the called out. Such was the assembly in the 
wilderness, first designated the congregation. It is an assembly 
of the called, or those who are brought together by one leader, 
or profjESsion. The whole community of professing Christians 
make the one body or congregation of the Lord ; and those meeting 
in one place constitute the Christian congregation in that place, 
This word is applied to those in Jerusalem, Rome, Corinth, 
Ephesus; and, in the plural form, to the churches in Galatia, 
Judea, Asia, etc. (Gal., 1:2,22; II. Cor., 8: 1, 18, 23; 11:28; 
I. Cor., 7: 17; 16: 19; I. Thess., 1:4.) It is also very often applied 
to the whole body or aggregate of the faithful: I. Cor,, 15:9; 
Eph„ 1 :22 ; 5 : 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32 ; Gal., 1 : 13 ; Phil., 3:6; Col., 1 : 24. 



App. A. 7. 

{a) Brother A. G. McAllister, who read this MS., 
questions the quotation from Drummond on p. Q, "Science 
cannot pverthrow faith; but it shakes it." He doubts if 
science ever shakes faith, and he is correct if by faith he 



The Higher Kingdom Z7 

means the faith which science cannot shake; but if by faith 
we mean an individual belief^ as Drummond undoubtedly 
used it^ then I must confess that science, at one time, did 
shake my faith. The FAITH is not always synonymous 
with our faith. 

(6) Brother Ira C. Moore, who has criticised the MSS., 
takes exception to my statement on p. 19 as to man being 
a dual being, thus: 

"I see you speak of man as *a dual being.' Inasmuch as you 
teach the truth that there is a spirit in man which you call with 
Paul 'the inner man,' and say of it that 'it is renewed day by 
day and lives on and on and on in that higher realm from whence 
came Memra-Logos," I would suggest that it would be more 
accurate to use the word 'triune' or 'tripartite' instead of 'dual.' 
Man has a soul and body as well as a spirit. This is taught 
specifically by Paul in I. Thess., 5 : 23 — 'And may your spirit 
(pneuma, Gr.), soul (psuchee, Gr.) and body (soma, Gr.) be 
preserved entire, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ.' The soul is the seat of the animal passions and is inti- 
mately connected with the blood. It is not the eternal part of 
man, but it dies with his body. The spirit is eternal. All animals 
have a soul in common with man, as well as a body. Thus far 
man and animal are alike. But the spirit is the intelligent part 
of man and differentiates him from the animal." 

I have been in the habit of grouping the many Scrip- 
tural and psychological components of man viz.: soul, 
spirit, life, heart, mind, will, intellect, conscience, inward 
parts, affections etc., body, tabernacle etc., under two 
heads — the soul or inward man, and the body or outward 



Miracles 39 

MIRACLES. 
(Lecture IL) 

"Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the 
disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, 
that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and 
that believing ye may have life in his name." — John. 



"Miracles may have been said to be the great proofs of revela- 
tion to the first ages who saw them." — Dr. Dick. 



As a logical. Scriptural sequence we must follow our 
first lecture with one on miracles. If we are right on 
miracles — what they are, their special purpose, etc. — we 
will be correct on many things, viz. : the theories and 
degrees of faith; and power to work miracles if Christians 
had enough faith, as we hear so often, will give place to 
the Scriptural teaching of the three faiths.^ 

Faith-cures, so called today, may be regarded as real, 
by psychonomic law, and classed with healings of sug- 
gestive therapeutics ; but never as miracles. 

Conversion will be preached as a turning from sin to 
God, as the Greek word for "convert," which is an active 
one, indicates.^ It will never be considered as a miracle. 

Moreover, miracles had a scientific purpose and a 
Scriptural one, and these coincide. There was, therefore, 
a place, a purpose and an age of miracles: the lack of 



1 (a) Individual belief. Matt,, 8: 10-13; Mark, 11: 22; Luke, 7:9; 17: 5; 
Acts, 6:5; 11:24; Rom., 4:3,9; 10:17; Heb., 11:6. 

(b) Supernatural hold on God. Matt., 17:20-22; 21:21,22; Mark, 
11:22-24; Luke, 17:6; I. Cor., 12:9. 

(c) Svstem of faith. Acts, 5:5,7; 13:8; 14:22; 16:5; 24:24; Rom., 
10:26; Gal., 3:23-25; Eph., 4:13; I. Tim., 1:19,20; cf. II. Tim., 2:17; 
I. Tim., 4:1; 5:8; 6: 10; II. Tim., 3:8; 4:7. 

^ "epistrepho" — "a turning" is used in the following: Isa., 6:9,10; 
Matt., 13,15; 18:3; Luke, 22:01; Acts, 3:19; 26:18-20; 28:27. 



40 The Maple Lectures 

miracles today is because the world has passed out of the 
age where miracles obtained^, and because their purpose had 
been accomplished, not for the lack of faith. 

I shall not say whether Jesus wrought 36 or 37 miracles, 
but refer you to the words of John, that Jesus did many 
other signs not in John's record: "And there are also many 
other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be 
written every one, I suppose that even the world itself 
would not contain the books that should be written."^ 

What Is a Miracle? Definitions. 

It is important that we define a miracle, else how can 
we talk intelligently on our present theme?* Hume, the 
skeptic, in his essay on miracles, writes: "A miracle may 
be accurately defined as a transgression of the law of 
nature by a particular volition of Deity or the interposition 
of some invisible agent." Blake affirms, "Miracles" are the 
interference of divine power with the usual working of 
the laws of the created universe, causing results in nature 
which otherwise would not take place," and "Miracles are 
wrought by the intervention of divine power." 

These men in using the words, "transgression," "inter- 
position," "interference" and "intervention" convey the 
idea that a miracle is unnatural, or rather anti-natural, or 
a violation of law which hardly suits the Christian legalist. 

Young, in Bible Studies, with Cruden, says : "A miracle 
is an act which none but God can do;" yet God does some 
things that are not miracles. 

It has been intimated by some "Higher Critics" that 
miracles so called are no more than natural acts misunder- 
stood. Accordingly they "explain away" most of the 



3 John, 20: 30, 31; 21:25. 

4App. B. 1. Definitions of "Miracles" by Trench. 



Miracles 41 

miracles. Take, for instance, Jesus feeding the thousands. 
They say it was the oriental custom to provide a lunch for 
the journey, hence the Lord forbade the twelve carrying 
a wallet, "for the laborer is worthy of his food."^ These 
thousands who had followed Jesus or came from the cities 
around had provided things to eat for the journey. So 
when Jesus commanded them to sit on the grass, He re- 
turned thanks, and this reminded them of their lunch, 
which in the excitement they had forgotten. Reaching into 
their wallets, they took therefrom their lunches and began 
to eat. Years after, the traditional story appeared in the 
records as a miracle. The plain statement of their expo- 
sition ( ?) compared with the Scriptures is sufficient refu- 
tation.^ 

Jesus, they explain, did not really walk on the water, 
but on the beach, and to the disciples out in the boat, and 
through the twilight. He appeared as walking to them, 
whereas they drifted to Him. Again, I refer you to the 
Scriptural stories as against this form of skepticism.'^ 

In harmony with this rationalistic explication of 
Christ's miracles, Matthew says : "If those higher laws and 
forces were to be brought within range of our observation, 
as they are now known to us only through the evidence of 
witnesses, prophecy, like miracles, might cease to be super- 
natural and be recognized as perfectly ascertained power. 
And it may be that some day we shall be able to look upon 
the miracles and prophecy as not supernatural at all, but 
the most natural things in the world," but with me that 
day has not come.^ 



5 Matt., 10: 5, 10. 

«Feeclin^ 5,000. Matt,, 14:13-21; Mark, 8:1-9; Luke, 9:12-17; John, 

1-14; 4,000. Matt., 15:29-39; Mark, 6:32-44. 

■'Matt., 15:22,23; Mark, 6:45-51; John, 6:16-20. 

8 "Witness of The World to Christ." 



42 The Maple Lectures 

Miracles — Mysteries — Magic. 

Miracles^ some say, are mysterious and incomprehensible 
acts which, to say the least, mystifies rather than defines. 
To illustrate: I saw a French magician stand on the edge 
of the stage and from his empty hands there dropped flags 
of all nations. Gathering these in his hands, he trans- 
formed them into a beautiful "Old Glory" while the band 
played "The Star-Spangled Banner." Many declared it 
was nothing short of a miracle, but it wasn't. It was magic. 

To make the matter more impressive, here are two long 
envelopes, open at the end, and marked No. 1 and No. 2, 
respectively. I insert this magic wand into each to show 
that they are empty. We take No. 1 and seal the empty 
envelope and put the wand in No. 2 and seal it securely, 
thus (seals with a "sticker"). By transitional magic I 
transfer the wand from No. 2 into No. 1, though the 
envelopes are ten or twelve feet apart. To prove that No. 2 
is now empty, I double it up, thus. We unseal the empty 
envelope No. 1 and find that the wand has found its way 
out of No. 2, before your very eyes but invisibly across 
and into No. 1. It's mysterious, to be sure, but it is not a 
miracle. I am trying to teach that mysteries are not 
miracles. 

From these empty hands I produce a red handkerchief, 
following with a white one, and lastly the blue — all the 
colors of the flag. We tie the corners together, thus, and 
by a gentle wave of the hands the red, white and blue are 
instantly transformed into "Old Glory" (the three hand- 
kerchiefs disappear and a flag appears instead). 

As a further illustration that mysterious acts are not 
miracles, here are two small paper boxes. No. 1, as you 
see (opens it), has three corks in it, and No. 2 has six 



Miracles 43 

corks (a spectator looks in the boxes). We wrap each box 
in handkerchiefs and place them so — ten or fifteen feet 
apart. Now, by this wand, I "take" three corks out of 
No. 2 (leaving only three in it) and transfer them invisibly 
over to No. 1. (Opening the boxes, it was found that 
No. 1 had six and No. 2 only three.) 

Here the speaker showed in his hands a single red ball, 
which he multiplied into two or three, forced one through 
his hand, "vanished" another, etc. 

The Inexplicable in Nature. 

There are many things in nature which we cannot ex- 
plain very clearly; yet they are not miracles. Two rose- 
bushes are growing side by side; both drink up the same 
carbonic acid (and some oxygen at night), one bears a red 
rose and the other a white one. Can you explain the dif- 
ference.^ Their respective bioplasms, you say. True, but 
who has or can define and explain bioplasms } Yonder in a 
fields is a pig, a goose and a sheep. They eat about the 
same food and breathe the same air, but the pig grows 
bristles, the goose feathers and the sheep wool; and you 
never saw a pig grow feathers, or a goose grow wool. 

I can't understand how a red cow that eats green grass 
gives white milk which makes yellow butter. 

Can you explain how the "cat came back".'' She was 
put in a sack, kept ignorant of the direction she was being 
taken, so it was impossible for her to count the telephone 
poles or mark the farm houses. Turned out in the cold 
two or three miles from home and in a strange land, Puss 
stretched up her head, reconnoitered a moment and beat 
us boys back home — and mother licked us, for she didn't 
believe we took the cat away at all. 



44 The Maple Lectures 

Some hunters from Indiana went to Upper Michigan. 
They took a boat out of Chicago in the evening for Frank- 
fort, and thus were out of sight of land most of the night. 
As they were nearing Frankfort about 10 A. M. the next 
day, one of the dogs leaped overboard, swam to shore, and 
two days later reached his home in old Indiana, having 
traveled at least 300 miles. 

Bettix reports that "a turtle which had been caught in 
the Pacific Ocean and branded with the ship's mark was 
thrown overboard as ill and, therefore, not esculent, into 
the English Channel, and was fished up again in the Pacific 
Ocean three years later. How did the creature find its 
way those thousands of miles through the dark depths of 
the ocean and round Cape Horn, or if by the shorter route, 
through the Strait of Gibraltar, Mediterranean, Suez Canal 
and Red Sea? That turtle traversed 4,000 miles or more, 
and averaged, at least, five miles a day, Sunday included. 
How do we account for such ? Surely a scientist like Bettix 
would not give this if not fully authenticated. He states 
that "Pigeons were taken in a basket from Belgium to 
Spain, and there set at liberty after five years — were back 
in Brussels within a few hours. A dog, too, has been 
known to follow the track of his master after the lapse of 
three months from Russia to France, over rivers and 
mountains, without being led astray on any other trail. 
The sense of smell has nothing to do with it."^ Spallanzani 
tells of "bats blind from excess of light, which fly about 
in a room across which wi'res with bells attached have been 
stretched, at a tremendous speed for hours together with- 
out once coming into collision with the wires." 

And just, the other day a brother — in full fellowship 



Science and Christianity, p. 200. 



Miracles 45 

in the Churchy too — told me that his wife had a large wart 
on her finger and went to an old man, who gave her a penny 
and said, "That wart will come off when you won't know 
it/' and it was so. I can't understand. 

(Here the speaker used the magnet to show the mystery 
of magnetism, which, though inexplicable, is not a miracle.) 

Unaccountable Phenomena. 

So many people, when confronted with unaccountable 
phenomena, jump to the conclusion that they are miracles. 
"It was a miracle that they did not all get killed; he 
killed the engine just as the train whizzed by and the front 
of the auto was only about two feet from the railroad track." 
Are such escapes miracles ? 

I read in the newspaper this: "Until war ceases, which 
will be the greatest miracle of all, it will always be the 
exhibition ground of miracles. How can a bullet puncture 
a man's coat behind and before, or pierce his boot and sock 
and be gravely shaken out of both without wounding him? 
And what mysterious channel does this human body con- 
tain which leads a bullet dexterously around the heart, a 
hair's breadth from the seat of life, yet never rending it ?- — 
a phenomenon vouched for by more than one army surgeon. 
Shells have burst thunderously between the very legs of 
soldiers and left them still soldiers. In fact, a history of 
the escapes in war would be wild reading even after a 
course of Munchausen." 

There are two errors in the above: First, "the greatest 
miracles when war ceases," which leads me to say, though 
diverging, that when the world is "safe for democracy" — 
I don't mean an autocratic, quasi-democracy, in which plu- 
tocracy rules, such as they have in Germany, but a democ- 



46 The Maple Lectures 

racy by the people^ for the people, and of the people — which 
means intrinsically that the people who suffer because of 
war shall have a constitutional right to vote, whether the 
government declares war or not. Thus the controlling 
power will be with the people, where it belongs, rather than 
with the stipendary and monetary representatives of 
BIG BUSINESS, munition makers, food speculators and 
salary grabbers, as in England and Austria. War will cease 
then by law — the voice of the people — and it won't be a 
miracle, either.^^ 

The second blunder is that miracles occur on battlefields. 
Even if those things from the paper really happened, they 
were not miracles, but simply unusual. 

Definitional Elucidations. 

And here I give my definition, or rather elucidation of 
miracles. We must keep in mind the law by which also the 
time and manner in which a miracle is performed. 

There are two kinds of law: the ordinary or common, 
and the extraordinary or special. Laws against theft, 
murder and profanity ; laws as to the executing and attest- 
ing wills, enforcing contracts, etc., belong to the common. 

The resolution — really law (crystalized will of the 
people) — declaring the colonies free was extraordinary and 
originative. So the act bestowing money and lands on 
LaFayette, or Congress appropriating funds to the World'? 
Fair at St. Louis, or to the San Francisco sufferers, etc., 
were special — could not apply ordinarily. 

They have a law in Ontario against running street cars 



1* "Gold and power the chief cause of war." — Tacituc. 

"War seldom enters but where wealth allures." — Dry den. 

"Turn which way we will, it all comes back to this: that we go to 
war really for the money interests of certain rich men:'— National and 
Social Problems, by Harrison, pp. 211-212. 



Miracles 47 

and ]<>cal trains on the Lord's Day, but a number of the 
"representative" business men from Port Arthur and 
Ft. Williams went to Toronto and induced Parliament to 
grant the twin cities a special dispensation to legally (?) 
run their street cars in violation of this common law. 

The Draft Act passed by Congress May IS, 1917, was 
special or temporary — that is, enacted "in view of the 
existing emergency,' — and automatically becomes void when 
the existing emergency ceases to exist.^^ 

Miracles are wrought hy supernatural law. To quote 
another, "When we speak of the supernatural, we imply 
that there are laws and forces which are beyond and above 
ihi-i generally observed order. Miracles are supernatural — 
beyond the observed order of things. "^^ 

Miracles Eliminate Time and Method. 

A Scriptural illustration or two to emphasize the time 
and manner of the miracle-act: Take Jesus' first one — 
turning water into wine. Turning water into wine per se 
is NOT a miracle. Yonder is the grape-vine on the hillside. 
The rain descends and the roots gather up the water; the 
vine carries it up and out into the grape-pods, where it is 
retained for a few mon! hs ; then the grapes are gathered 
and the water crushed out from which the wine is made. 
This is not a miracle, as it takes time to do it, and the 
manner of the act is not as when Jesus turned water into 
wine. In the record we find that the wedding feasters 
ran out of wine. Jesus had them refill the water pots. He 
turned that water into wine — eliminating months of time, 
disregarding nature's method and means. ^^ 



" App. B. 2 has some extrncts from the law on this point, 
" "Witness of the World." 
^"John, 2; Ml. 



48 The Maple Lectures 

Stilling the tempest is not a miracle. The storm strikes 
the vessel in mid- Atlantic ; the passengers are frightened 
and complain to the captain, who assures them that all will 
be well; and it is so, for within forty-eight hours the sea 
is comparatively calm. A boat on Lake Galilee carrying 
the Man of Galilee and a few Galilean fishermen was 
tempest-tossed on a billowy sea. As a mother coos her 
baby to sleep, Jesus gathered the waves in His arms (figur- 
atively) and said, "Peace, be still," and all was calm and 
serene. ■'^* 

The immutable Jehovah who stilled the storm two 
thousand years ago stills it today: then by extraordinary 
law, which annuls ordinary methods and time, now by 
natural law, and it takes time. 

The same is true of feeding the thousands. God feeds 
millions today (or rather provides the food for all — if the 
food speculators would let them have it), but it's by a 
perfectly natural law and requires time. Time and the 
means of production were annulled when Jesus fed the 
multitudes. It was a miracle. 

Some of His miracles were immediate acts, which, if 
by natural law requires time; and some could never have 
been performed by natural law with all of nature's means 
at hand, and ample time.^^ 

Nature Began With Miracles. 

Our next premise is that miracles have been at the 
beginning of each of the kingdoms of nature, as repre- 
sented on our chart. 

I ask a rationalist from whence came the globe upon 

"Matt., 8:23-27; Mark, 4:35-41; Luke, 8:22-25. 

15 For such miracles see Matt., 28:2-10; Mark, 6:48; Luke, 7:11-17; 
John, 11:38-44; and others. 



Miracles 49 

which we live — our mineral kingdom. He replies learnedly^ 
"The globe is a piece that fell off the sun and^ by the law 
of evolution^ evolved into its present form and condition." 
While there is not a known law of attraction or gravitation 
that would let a piece like our globe fall off the sun and 
stop ninety some million miles distant^ and in its new orbit 
rotate around the sun^ yet it was unquestionably a part of 
the universal mass, once diffused through space. But I 
don't argue this matter with my friend. I take him at 
his word and ask_, "Can you tell me where the sun came 
from .^" and he answers, "Iwis, the sun_, is a collection of 
atoms." "Oh, I see; where did the atoms come from.?" 
"Atoms were formed from nebula," he wisely replies. "And 
tell me, sir," I demanded, "the origin of the nebula." 
"Listen, I'll explain." I listened. "You see, one time 
the universe was in a gaseous condition, and this gas con- 
tained all the minerals, materials, etc., of the entire solar 
system. Eventually this gas spontaneously moved, and 
the result was the nebula. Understand.?" "Yes, of course, 
I understand; but two more questions: How did the gas 
that contained all the minerals of the universe originate, and 
what started the stuff moving.?" 

My friend could not answer, but Moses has: "In the 
beginning God created .... and the Spirit of God 
moved upon the face of the water ('mahyim' = fluid, non- 
solid, HoO) ; and that brings us back to miracles — the 
beginning of the mineral kingdom. 

One illustration from the vegetable kingdom: how 
came the oak, majestic and stately, by the wayside? It 
came from an acorn. And from whence came the acorn? 
From an oak tree. But where did the first (acorn or tree) 
come from? From some other species. Then, tell me. 



50 The Maple Lectures 

where did the other species come from — that is, where did 
the very first in the vegetable world come from? There 
is only one answer — MIRACLES, God — Created. 

Mr. Pithecanthropus Erectus. 

The evolutionist affirms that the one and a half billion 
people on the earth came from the lower animals. He goes 
back to, and past, the pithecanthropus erectus (the long- 
lost link), describes the twenty-one links in the evolution- 
ary chain, clear down to the hypothetical amaeba. When 
asked where this he or she or it came from, he names the 
moner as the father of the amaeba and our great-great- 
great-etc, etc.-grandfather, or, as Haeckel says, "our most 
ancient ancestor." 

If it be true that 2,374,827 monera could sit on the point 
of a needle and have plenty of playground around, we must 
commend Mr. Moner for the mark he has made in the 
world — multiplying and replenishing the earth. But, say, 
how did great-grandfather moner begin .^ By Spontaneous 
Generation — that is, a dead old earth generated all life. 
No biologist of note accepts abiogeiiesis : but to the contrary 
biogebesis — that life came from an antecedent life. Bio- 
genesis is conceded by Bastain, Tyndall, Dallinger and 
Spallanzani: even Darwin and Huxley support this 
theory.^^ 

The theory that life was showered down on this earth 
from another planet only leads us to ask how that life got 
on the other planet; if from another planet we close the 
cross-questions with, "How did the first life, vegetable or 
animal, get on the first planet or the first anything else.^" 



18 App. B. 3. Origin of Life. 



Miracles 51 

Any way they fix it^ the Creator and miracles must be 
admitted. 

Religious Kingdoms Began With Miracles. 

If, as Pascal says, "nature is an image of grace;" if 
the things that are seen are, in any sense, the image of 
the unseen, then I venture my next affirmation: miracles 
have been at the beginning of each of the divine religious 
kingdoms. 

Take the Jewish Theocracy: Jehovah was cognizant of 
the Israelitish slaves in Egypt and their cruel treatment 
at the hands of the master class, and determined to deliver 
them and make of them a people for His name.^^ A great 
leader was needed : Moses was the man. An angel appeared 
to him in the burning bush which was not consumed. God 
called him: Moses hesitated. Jehovah gave him facts, 
commands and promises, and to confirm the call — that the 
All-Powerful One commanding him was able to keep His 
promise and enable Moses to lead the Israelites out — God 
did miracles at the hands of Moses. A rod was transmuted 
into a serpent and back into a rod. Moses' hand became 
leprous and clean again. 

A careful study of these and all the miracles in con- 
nection with the Exodus shows that they had a triple pur- 
pose — some were signs to Moses, some to the Hebrews, 
and others to Pharaoh. ^^ 

In all these miracles the object was the confirmation 
of the Mosaic claims and the Jewish economy; and it was 
proper for Pharaoh to demand of Moses signs that his 
claims were true, and that he was what he claimed for 



"Ex., 2:23-25; 3:7-9. 

"Exodus, 3d and 4th chapters especially; Acts, 7:34. 



5)2 The Maple Lectures 

himself. It was the duty of Moses to make his claims good. 
He did so, for the Egyptian magicians were compelled to 
admit that the wonders of Moses were beyond what they 
did. 

Closing this argument, I quote from Blake, "The miracles 
of Moses issue4 in the Jewish polity, the bricks of the 
Egyptian jugglers issued in nothing, the miracles of Christ 
issued in the Church," which leads me to our last thesis/. 

Church Began in Miracles. 

Pr. Dick argues, "Those who- witnessed the super- 
natural works by which the law of Moses and the gospel 
of Christ were confirmed were furnished with the mean's 
of, being as fully assured that the revelation proceeded 
from God as if they had heard Him pronounce them in an 
audible v.oice." And Dr; Pond says, "The great nefed of 
miracles obviously was to attest the divine authority of the 
revelations which they were instructed to deliver'.'/' 
Matthew Henry comments, "By the extraordinary gifts the 
Christian Church was first founded and set up and the 
Scriptures written and ministry settled, by which, with 
the ordinary operations and influences of the Spirit, it was 
to, be afterwards maintained and kept up." 

It is fitting that we ask: "Why did Jesus and the 
Apostles work miracles ? The answers are many. 

First is the benevolent theory: that God is our Father, 
and. we are His children. He loves us; has power to do 
W^at He wills. He wills to do for us what we cannot do 
for ourselves, or, as some put it, "Man's extremity is God's 
opportunity." He wanted His children to be happy and 
enjoy life to the full: hence the healings. 

Accordingly they explain some of the miracles : for 



Miracles 53 

instance the draughts of fish,^° Men fished in those days 
for a living. To return home to wife and children without 
fish woul4 mean no money from, their sales and, therefore, 
a lack of the necessities of life. Jesus, knowing the cir- 
cumstances and desirous of making burdens lighter and 
honpies happy, wrought a miracle to this end. And so 
with, turning the, water into wine. It was at a wedding 
feast ; wine was necessary to the evening's festivities ; tkey 
ran out of wine, and Jesus loved them so that he supplied 
their needs, and joy and happiness continued. 

There was the tree which from the road appeared to 
bear flgs^ and many passersby had turned aside to pluck 
the fruit, only to return with mutterings and disappoint- 
ment. So Jesus, to prevent such, cursed the tree and it 
withered away, never again to disappoint a weary traveler.^^ 

God forbade the eating of swine meat, but some of the 
Jews disregarded the prohibition ; others kept swine to make 
money. Jesus impressed on them the importance of keeping 
the law in this respect by miraculously drowning two 
thousand hogs in the sea.-^ 

Many of the miracles of Jesus did benefit the needy 
physically and, perhaps, indirectly financially, but such was 
not their purpose. *>. ■ 

Commands, Promises, Penalties Spiritual. 

Listen — The Higher Kingdom is, first of all, a spiritual 
one, with a Spiritual law, spiritual commands, promises and 
penalties ; and physical or temporal blessings are not 
promised in obedience to this spiritual law. And yet undel* 



^9 Luke, 5:1-11; John, 21:1-14. 

20 Matt., 21 : 18-20 ; Mark, 11 : 12-14, 20, 21. 

"Matt., 8:28-34; Mark, 5:1-13; Luke, 8:26-34. 



54 The Maple Lectures 

proper economic conditions obedience to the spiritual law 
would mean temporal blessings indirectly. 

I have heard evangelists use the miracle-stories as 
parabolic doctrinal teaching. From the words, "Daughter, 
thy faith hath made thee whole/' they preached salvation 
by faith only; and the healing of the lame man who "leaped 
and praised God" proves it is Scriptural to shout when 
converted.^- What would you say should I use the story 
of the blind man, who washed in Siloam and received his 
sight, as an argument for salvation by water only? 

John Foster says, "A miracle is the ringing of the 
great bell of the universe, in order to summons men to 
listen to the sermon," which was hardly the real purpose 
of Jesus in working signs. 

From Matt., 9 : 6, we learn that Jesus healed a man 
that they might know that He had power on earth to for- 
give sins. May I give you a few passages on this point: 
John, 5 : 36, "But the witness which I have is greater than 
that of John; for the works which the Father hath given 
me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness 
of me, that the Father hath sent me." And in 10: 37, 38 we 
read, "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 
But if I do them, though you believe not me, believe the 
works: that ye may know and understand that the Father 
is in me, and I in the Father." Also, 14: 11 reads thus: 
"Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in 
me: or else believe me for the very works' sake." While 
these works may refer to his benevolent acts especially, yet 
his signs are not excluded. 



22 Matt., 5:25-34; Acts, 3:1-10. 



Miracles 55 

Purpose of Signs Accomplished. 

That the purpose of miracles was accomplished, the fol- 
lowing Scriptures indicate: John, 2:11 says, "This begin- 
ning of his signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and mani- 
fested his glory ; and his disciples believed on Him." Nico- 
demus confessed, "We know that thou art a teacher come 
from God, for no man can do these things that thou doest 
except God be with him." Peter on Pentecost testified thus: 
"Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a 
man approved of God unto you by mighty works aijd 
wonders and signs which God did by Him in the midst of 
you, even as ye yourselves know."^^ 

Moreover, the Apostles were promised signs to confirm 
the word;^* and Paul supports his apostleship accordingly: 
"Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in 
all patience, by signs and wonders and mighty works. "^^ 

Miracles obtained until the confirmation was made, and 
the perfect thing had come, then passed away.^^ When 
was that.^ Bettix answers, "For those who know their 
Bible the era of open miracles ceased with the destruction 
of Jerusalem," which occurred in A. D. 70. 

Our third lecture, "The Early Church," deals with the 
question of the passing away of miracles ; and the one 
tomorrow night will be on "The Birth of the Kingdom," 



23 Acts, 2 : 22. 

24 Mark, 16:17-20; Heb., 2:2-4. 

25 II. Cor., 12:12, cf. Rom., 15:1! 
2«I. Cor., 13: 8-10. 



56 The Maple Lectures 

APPENDICES TO LECTURE IL 



App. B. 1. 

"Miracle : Lit. miracuhim — {. e., a wonder-causing event, a 
marvel. Of the six Greek words used in the N. T. to describe 
the supernatural works of Christ on earth, the three most usual 
are applied also to those wrought by His Apostles, viz.: (1) 
teras, A. V., wonder (always) ; (2) semeion, A. V., sign miracle 
(esp. in John), etc.; (3) dunamis, A. V., power, miracle (esp. in 
Acts and Epistles), etc. (1) Teras (i. e., 'wonder,' 'portent,' 
describes a miracle's startling effect, and is always accompanied 
by another of these words, esp. by semeion, to indicate the moral 
intention, the end and purpose of the wonder {e. g., in A. V., 
'wonders and signs,' Acts, 2:22). (2) Semeion — i. e., 'a sing'— 
describes a miracle as ordained by God to be a mark whereby 
to identify the Messiah, an attestation of His teaching, an earnest 
of the blessings He brought, a specimen of God's methods for 
bringing these blessings home to man, as well as a type (or 
'parable in action') of His Spiritual Gifts. (3) Dunamis — i. e., 
'power' (so rendered in A. V., also, generally in plural, 'mighty 
works') — describes a miracle as a 'new and higher force,' or 
'power of the world to come (Heb., 6:5), entered upon and work- 
ing in this world; an 'outcoming of the greatness' (megaleia, A. V., 
'great things,' Luke, 1:49; Acts, 2:1), of God's power and glory 
inherent in Christ, and lent to His witnesses and ambassadors. 

"Miracles are also described as (4) eudoxa, A. V., 'glorious 
things,' Luke, 13:17, etc. — i. e., as manifestations of the glory of 
God, the Father and Son; (5) paradoxa (A. V.,/strange things;' 
cf. 'new things,' Num., 16:30) — i. e., as beyond human imagina- 
tion, amazing (c/. Luke, 5:26), and as (6) tliaumasia, A. V., 'won- 
derful' (Matt., 21:15; cf. 9:8) — i. e., astonishing, occurrences 
unprecedented in human experience {cf. Matt., 9:33), and (like 
paradoxa) ascribed to God only." — Trench. 

The Cross-Reference Bible specifies 54 miracles in the 
O. T. and 50 in the N. T. Could we count those wrought 
by the twelve (Matt., 10: 8) ; the seventy (Luke, 10: 17) ; 
those in connection with the resurrection, appearances and 
ascension of Jesus; those by Stephen Acts, 6: 8) ; by Philip 
Acts, 8:6,7,13) by disciples of Apollos (Acts, 19:6) by 
Paul (Acts, 28:9); by Corinthians (I. Cor., 12:10); the 
N. T. number would far exceed the O. T. miracles. 



Miracles 57 

Of Christ's miracles 3 are recorded by Matthew only, 
2 by Mark only, 7 by Luke only and 7 by John only. Three 
are by Matthew and Mark^ 2 by Matthew and Luke^ 1 by 
Mark and Luke, 10 by Matthew, Mark and Luke, 1 by 
Matthew, Mark and John. Only one (feeding the five 
thousand) is found in all four records. This makes 37 by 
Jesus. 

Brother J. W. Shepherd, who read the MS. of this 

lecture, has sent me such a brief dissertation on "Miracles" 

that I include it herewith : 

The Standard Dictionary says that a miracle is "An event in 
the natural M'orld, but out of its established order, and possible 
only by the intervention and exertion of divine power ; a super- 
natural event." In regard to this definition I would say that the 
exhibition of power on the part of God is not the miracle. It 
takes just as much power to keep in operation the laws of the 
universe as it required to create the world. The miracles spoken 
of in the Bible are not the result of the direct exercise of power 
by God; but the miracle consists in conferring the power upon 
a person, or a beast; that he or it should exercise divine power 
is the miracle. The miracle or sign in the days of Elijah did not 
consist in withholding the rain three years and six months, nor 
in the rain at the end; that would have been the direct power of 
God, but- no miracle. Droughts prevail for two or three years 
at a time now in some sections; then the rain comes; it is no 
miracle. It is a sign to no one and of nothing from God. The 
miracle in the case of Elijah was in making the rain subject to 
Elijah's will, or in enabling him to tell the time of the beginning 
and the end of the drought. This was contrary to the usual order; 
it was transferring divine knowledge and power to Elijah; it was 
a sign from God that He was with Elijah, that Elijah spoke His 
words and that Elijah's words were clothed with the authority of 
God. The contest between Elijah and the prophets was: Which 
was the God that controls and directs the forces of nature? Who 
caused the rain to be withheld.? Who could bring, fire by the 
force of His will and burn the sacrifices? Who could enable His 
servant to order the rain at his will and bring it at his word? 
Some power or God in nature could do these things; which God 
had the power — God or Baal? The one that could do this was the 
one that Israel should serve. Fire comes down from heaven in 
the form of lightning and consumes things ; there is no miracle in 
this. Fire will burn flesh; there is no miracle in this; but that it 



58 The Maple Lectures 



should come at the petition of Elijah constituted the miracle and 
was a sign that the God of Elijah was the God that directs and 
controls the elements and forces of Nature, and, as such, must 
be the true God; and that Elijah was His approved servant and 
prophet, and that, as such, the people should hearken to and 
obey him. In doing this they were obeying God. 

On page 12 of your manuscript you refer to the miracles in 
connection with the work of Moses, and it might be further said: 
The revelation at Sinai was preceded by miracles, wonders and 
signs wrought to prove that Moses was a chosen and authorized 
mouthpiece of God and that what he should speak was the will 
of God. This truth, first of all, had to be proved to Moses him- 
self. An influence might come upon him and he not know 
whe;ther it was from God or some other being. The bush that 
burned, but was not consumed, together with the voice of God 
speaking to Moses, was intended to convince Moses that the God 
of Israel was the God that created and rules the universe and 
that he had chosen and would guide him in delivering Israel. 
Other miracles were wrought to convince the children of Israel, 
and others still to convince Pharaoh and the Egyptians that 
God was with Moses. All the testimony given to convince others 
strengthened the faith of Moses in the presence of God to guide 
him. His faith needed to be strengthened continually, as diffi- 
culties multiplied and the faith of Israel in him would wane. 

When the time for giving the law came, manifestations of 
power were made to and through Moses and before the whole 
people to satisfy them that God was present delivering the law 
to Moses and for the people. Miracles, or signs, continued until 
the mission of Moses was completely established and Israel was 
established in the land of Canaan. 



App. B. 2. 

In the "Act to authorize the President to increase 
temporarily the military establishment of the United 
States/' the expression "existing emergency," or "present 
emergency," occurs ten times in the bill, and once it is 
"during the present war." It may be well to emphasize that 
in Section 1 we read, "any or all members of the National 
Guard and the National Guard Reserves, and said members 
so drafted into the military service of the United States, 
shall serve therein for the period of the existing emergency 



Miracles 59 

unless sooner diseharged/' and of the voluntary enlistments 
in the Regular Army, Section 7 has, "and such enlistments 
shall be for the period of the emergency unless sooner dis- 
charged." Again, "AH persons who have enlisted since 
April 1, 1917, either in the Regular Army or in the National 
Guard, and all persons who have enlisted in the National 
Guard since June 3, 1917, upon their application shall be 
discharged upon the termination of the existing emergency." 

In view of the gathering suspicion that this law is one 
of many to fasten on America a distasteful and undemo- 
cratic militarism, it is hoped that the voters will remind 
the law-makers that this law must be repealed when the 
present emergency shall have passed — if not sooner, and 
that the people act against any unnecessary delays (such 
as the Congressional investigation revealed) in the present 
emergency, and against a prolongation of the emergency for 
plutocratic purposes. 

(Free and full expression by "press and speech" are 
forbidden by the Espionage Law passed June 15, 1917, and 
other rulings.) 

App. B. 3. — Origin of Life. Theories. 

1. Importation. — Life-germs were imported from other 
worlds to earth. 

Lord Kelvin took this position and Bettix asked, "How 
did the life-germs originate on other planets; and why do 
not germs of new and wonderful organisms still fall upon 
the earth from the other spheres?" 

Spiller argues, "The dust oi infusoria cannot be trans- 
ported from one world to another. Meteorites could not 
carry organic life, because they are in a glowing state in 
the atmosphere." 



60 The Maple Lectures 

,2. Abiogensis — the generation of living from non- 
living matter ; th^t a dead old globe generated life," a 
belief^ npw abandoned, th^t various organisnis commQiily 
found developed in putrid organic matter arose sppntane- 
ously from it.' '; {Webster's International.) You note that 
Webster says "a belief woo? abandoned," which^ to give the 
full story, means that Dr. Bastian and others who affirmed 
from experiments that dead matter did generate life^afterr 
W4rds experimented more carefully and were compelled 
to reyerse their jconclusion, though they wanted it other- 
wise; and Drummond, speaking for all, said, "so far as 
science can settle anything, this question is settled.. The 
at.tempt;to get. the living out of the (dead has failed. Spon- 
taneous generation has had to be given up," Tyndall, 
Liebig, Pasteur and others finally banished the dogma from 
scjencCr , .- . ■ > 

3. Biogensis. — Life comes from life. Huxley,., ^Ur 
nounced, "Biogenesis is victoripus along the whole line, and 
no testimony exists to prove that life in our day has ever 
appeared independently of antecedent life." Drummond 
affirms ,'Tt is now recognized on every hand that life can 
only come from the „ touch of life/,' "All really scientific 
experience tells us that life can. be produced frpm a living 
antecedent only." (Unseen Universe, p. 229.) . > 

; 4, The hypothesis that "life was inherent in the pximi- 
tiye nebulosity under the form of hydrogen atoms/' or 
places //the origin of life in the womb of the primal nebula 
in space" (Zacharias), does not deserve discussion, but 
is , delegated to the category of cabalism. 



THE BIRTH OF THE KINGDOM. 
(Lecture III.) 



"Far the kingxlom of God is not eating and drinking, but 
righte;ousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." — Paul. 



"Whence, but from heaven, could men unskilled in arts. 

In several ages born, in several parts, 
;' Weave such agreeing truths." —Dry den. 



I have read for our edification Dan.;, 2 : 31-45^ which 
depicts the four world kingdoms* (the Babylonian^, Medb- 
i^ersian^ Macedonian and Roman) ; the diversified king- 
doms represented by the feet of Nebuchadnezzar's image; 
aild the kingdom of God represented by the stone from the 
nJoUntain. ' 

While our theme — The Birth -of the Kingdom- — has to 
do^ for the most partj, with the starting of the stone (the 
kingdom of Chrisft) in the days of the Roman rule*rS;, not 
the smiting of the diversified kingdoms, yet we may find it 
convenient 'to consider the same in connection with our 
chart on the kingdoms of this world.^ 

Starting of Stone-Kingdom. 

' ' We Want in this lecture tonight to point out the begin- 
rii'rlg of the kingdom of Christ. 

' There are many opinions as to when and where it began, 
and each supports a doctrinal dogma. For instance/ the 
theory that the church began before the foundation of the 
world is intended to support the dogma of predestination 
and election ; for if God, before the foundation of the world. 



1 See Chart 4 in App. C. 4. 



^ The Maple Lectures 

predestinated a certain number to salvation, then those thus 
predestinated constituted the first church. 

McMahan says, "The church is not a human institution 
of recent origin grown out of the current necessities of man 
and organized for the accomplishment of temporary ends, 
but it is as ancient as the family of Adam."^ Should one 
ask him for proof, I presume he would read Gen., 3: 15: 
the seed of the woman "shall bruise thy head, and thou 
shalt bruise his heel,*' in connection with Rom., 16:20, and 
Gal., 4:4, and make it the gospel (in promise) ; and that 
the embryonic church really began with the promise — that 
the bruising of the serpent's head refers to the work of 
Christ through the church. 

Those who teach that the church began in the days of 
Abraham affirm that the Abrahamic covenant, unlike the 
Mosaic, is an everlasting covenant, and therefore binding 
on us today. This covenant includes infants (males only, 
they admit when pressed with Gen., 17: 10-14); and that 
circumcision was a mark or seal, and a type of baptism ; and 
they quote Scripture to this end, thereby bringing infant 
baptism down to date.^ 

Others come a little nearer the Scriptural starting point 
by teaching that the church began in the days of John the 
Baptist, and this to support the doctrine that repentance 
and not baptism is "for the remission of sins." They, too, 
cite Scripture for their purpose ; Mark, 1 : 4 is one, "John 
came, who baptized in the wilderness and preached the 
baptism of repentance unto remission of sins." They make 
repentance the antecedent of the clause, "unto remission of 
sins," and baptism is a fruit of the repentance. 



'Young Church Member, p. 10. 

3 Rom., 2:29; 15:8; I. Cor., 7:19; Col., 2:11,12. 



The Birth of the Kingdom 63 

We are not arguing against these hackneyed tenets, but 
simply stating them briefly, inasmuch as bard-pressed 
theologians have made them correlative with the beginning 
of the church. 

Opinions and Scriptural Truths. 

And here I venture my opinion on this question. "Do 
I have opinions?" Sure I do — an open confession is good 
for the soul. Most people have opinions. He who never 
has an opinion (it's always the infallible truth, to hear him 
talk) is sure to be egotistical, and really more opinionated — 
to use an obsolete word — than his fellows. Show me a man 
who has not opinions — on the Bible, religion, politics, war 
or something — and I'll show you one who is a mental dwarf 
and at an intellectual standstill. 

My opinion is: that the kingdom of God — the church 
of Jesus Christ — began on the first Pentecost after the 
resurrection of Jesus, in the city of Jerusalem. I shall 
try to substantiate that opinion by the truth, or, better, 
show it to be the truth. So hear me patiently while I try. 

It is consequential that the sailor know the exact 
latitude and longitude of the port of embarkation to make 
a sure voyage. The surveyor must locate the corner-stone 
before he can run a true line. It is far more important 
that we ascertain whether the Church started in New York 
State, Boston, Chicago, London, Geneva, Oxford, Rome, 
Jerusalem, the wilderness of Judea, the Garden of Eden, or 
in a pre-mundane heaven. 

Coming now to the evidence in support of my position, 
let me read you what men — smart men — say as to when 
and where the church started. First, let me say by way 
of explanation that this which I am about to read is a 



64 The Maple Lectures 

compilation through many years. In my filing case are 
three hundred files systematically marked. If in my read- 
ing I found something on the Church or kingdom^, I dropped 
a reference card into the proper file. After a time I 
emptied out these cards and copied from the books^ papers^ 
etc.^ to which they referred. In this way I gathered 
valuable material — and this^ too^ which I now read as it 
appeared in The Christian Leader some time ago. 

What Men Say. 

1. In "Bible Studies/' p. 85^ under the headings "His- 
tory of the Church/' the author^ A. E. Dunningj says: "It 
was formed within the bounds of Judaism. Its birthday 
was Pentecost. The first act in founding the Church was 
the gift of the Holy Spirit to believers^ which had been 
promised them by Christ." 

2. In "Progress and Doctrine/' we read, p. 115: "The 
day of Pentecost is the opening of the second period of the 
N. T. dispensation. It stands alone as does the day which 
now we call Christmas ; the one the birthday of the Lord, 
the other the birthday of His Church; the one proclaimed 
by praises sung by hosts in heaven, the other by praises 
uttered in the various tongues of earth." 

3. In "Smith's Bible Dictionary/' under "Church/' we 
read: "The day of Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. 
The Spirit, who was then sent by the Son from the Father, 
and rested on each of the disciples, combined them once 
more into a whole ; combined them as they never had before 
been combined, by an external and spiritual bond of 
cohesion. Before, they had been individual followers of 
Jesus ; now they become his mystical body animated by his 
Spirit." 



The Birth of the Kingdom 65 

Again: "The example of the mother Church of Jeru- 
salem was again followed by the Pauline churches." 

4. Conybeare and Howson^ "Life and Epistles of 
Saint Paul/' pp. 60 and 62: "First the Gospel was 
preached in the city of Jerusalem and the number of those 

who believed gradually rose from 120 to 5,000 

Looking back from our point of view upon the community 
at Jerusalem, we see in it the beginning of that society, 
the Church, which has continued to our own time, distinct 
both from Jews and heathens." 

5. S. V. Robinson, in "Physicians' Notes on Apostolic 
Times," p. 4: "So in like humble and almost insignificant 
beginnings did the Christian faith take its rise among the 
Judean hills. Its infantile struggles in a second-story 
room in an eastern city are set before us." 

On p. 29: "The birth of the Church occurred on the 
day of Pentecost, which earliest Christian traditions place 
on Sunday." 

"As the beginning of our Lord's public ministry was 
signalized by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so the Church 
at her entrance on her public career received the like 
precious baptism, this new creation reminding us of the 
first creation when that same blessed Spirit brooded upon 
chaos and transformed it into order and beauty." 

6. On p. 14 of "Studies in Acts," by B. B. Loomis, he 
speaks of the "Pentecost Church as the infant Church," 
and on pp. 21 and 22: "The Church grew from a little 
body of Jewish disciples in and about the city of Jerusalem 
to a Church for all the nations and all the world. There- 
fore it begins at Jerusalem and ends at Rome, the capital 
of the world." 

"Pentecost, with its wondrous effusion of the Holy 



66 The Maple Lectures 

Spirit^ was the inaugural day of Christ's Church on earth." 
And on p. 26 he says: "The Pentecostal Church was 
the mother and in its spirituality the type of all succeeding 
churches of Jesus Christ." 

On pp. 50 and 52 he refers to "The Jerusalem Church, 
the mother Church, . . . original Church, was the Jeru- 
salem, the Pentecostal, Church." 

7. Sheridan, in "Talks to Probationers," says, p. 8: 
"Jerusalem at first was the center. Like rays from a 
central sun the Gospel heralds poured forth from the city 
where Christ had died, risen and ascended on high, and 
where they had received the Pentecostal anointing of the 
Holy Spirit." He also spoke of the "infant Church." 

8. James Stalker, of Scotland, in "Life of Saint Paul," 
p. 34, writes: "Christianity was as yet only two or three 
years old and was growing very quietly in Jerusalem. 
Although those who had heard it preached at Pentecost 
had carried the news of it to their homes in many quarters, 
its public representation had not yet left the city of its 
birth." 

9. D. S. Gregory, in "School of Bible Study," for 
Homiletic Review of March, 1897, p. 267, in giving the 
Plan of Acts, uses the expressions, "Planting of fche 
Church in Jerusalem," "Founding of the Church at Pente- 
cost," "Jerusalem as the center." 

10. H. H. Hawes, a Presbyterian minister, preached, 
as reported in the October number of The Preacher's 
Helper, in 1895, that "Pentecost was the birthday of the 
Church." 

11. R. N. Van Doren, a Baptist minister at Port 
Huron, Mich., a few years ago referred to his visit to 
the Jerusalem monastery thus : "Around this retreat cluster 



The Birth of the Kingdom €J 

many historical associations. The mind wanders back to 
the 'upper room' (Acts, 1:13) in Jerusalem, the first 
Pentecost, the naother Church of Christendom." 

12. F. O. Sacken, Congregationalist, preached a sermon 
at Jamesport, N. J., some time since, and, referring to 
Pentecost, said: "This is the birthday of the Church." 

13. Old Tacitus, making records of public events, 
gives some information concerning the origin of that new 
religion, which he says was in Judea. 

Here are a baker's dozen who have said, something that 
looks like the Church started in Jerusalem, and on the 
Pentecost following the death of Jesus; and remember, 
too, brethren, that not a mother's son of these belonged 
to the Church of Christ. 

Here are all of these men — scholars, writers, men of 
note — who state that the Church began in Jerusalem on 
Pentecost, and what shall we say? Oh, I know what some 
of you say, or would say if you had the floor. You're 
thinking: what do we care about what those men say? 
We want what the Book says ; give us the Scriptures. 
Then "to the law and to the testimony" we go. 

What the Book Says. 

You see on the chart that about 735 B. C, Isaiah 
prophesied thus: "And it shall come to pass in the latter 
days, that the mountain of Jehovah's house shall be estab- 
lished on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted 
about the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And 
many peoples shall go and say. Come ye, and let us go up 
to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of 
Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk 
in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and 



68 The Maple Lectures 

the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem." This is from 
Isa., 2:2,3; and in 62: 1 we read: "For Zion's sake will 
I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not 
rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and 
her salvation as a lamp that burneth." 

Am I correct in saying that these prophecies refer to 
the establishment of the Church in Jerusalem? Let me 
read the comments of Matthew Henry: "This sermon 
begins with the prophecy relating to the last days of the 
Messiah, when His kingdom should be set up in the world, 
at the latter end of the Mosaic economy. In the last days 
of the earthly Jerusalem, just before the destruction of it, 
this heavenly Jerusalem should be erected. (Heb., 12: 12, 
and Gal., 4: 26). Note: Gospel times are in the last days. 
Out of Zion shall go forth the law, the New Testament 
law, the law of Christ. As of old the law of Moses from 
Sinai, even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 

Contemporary with Isaiah, or perhaps a little later, 
Micah repeated this prophecy almost verbatim ;* and Henry 
comments as follows: "It was in Jerusalem that Christ 
preached and wrought miracles. There he died, rose 
again and ascended; there the spirit was poured out, and 
those that were to preach repentance and remission of sins 
to all nations were ordered to begin at Jerusalem, so that 
from thence flowed the streams that were to water the 
desert world. That there shall be a church of God set 
up in the world after the defection and destruction of the 
Jewish Church, and this is in the last days — that is, as 
some rabbis themselves acknowledge, in the day of the 
Messiah." 



*MicM 4:1,2. 



The Birth of the Kingdom 69 

Jeremiah and Daniel Attest. 

Contemporary with Ezekiel, Zephaniah and Habakkuk 
are two prophets, from whom I quote at length — Jeremiah 
and Daniel. Let us remember that Nebuchadnezzar made 
three incursions into Judah : the first in 606, when the 
theocracy was subjected to Babylonia, and Daniel with 
others carried to Babylon. The second was in 698, when 
Ezekiel and others were taken captive to the banks of 
the Chebar in Babylonia. The third was in 588, when 
Jeremiah was liberated from the Jerusalem prison by 
Nebuzaradan, captain of the Babylonian army, whom 
Nebuchadnezzar specially charged to provide for the 
prophet and follow his counsel. Jeremiah was given the 
privilege of going to Babylon or remaining with his coun- 
trymen, some of whom had resented his predictions by 
imprisoning him. It is needless to say Jeremiah chose the 
latter. 

We can not take time to consider his prophecies as to 
the captivity and return of the Jews, the future decay of 
Babylon, his survey and the fall of many nations, the 
brighter days to come; but we do want to read one passage 
as to the abrogation of the law and the institution of a 
spiritual worship. 

So we turn to Jer., 31: 31-33: "Behold, the days come, 
saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the 
house of Israel, and with the house of Judah : not according 
to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day 
that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land 
of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was 
husband unto them, saith Jehovah. But this is the 
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after 
those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their 



70 The Maple Lectures 

inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will 
be their God and they shall be my people." 

Not only do Jamieson, Faussett and Brown, Matthew 
Henry, and other commentators interpret this as referring 
to the future kingdom, but Paul also in the 8th of Hebrews 
quotes this very prophecy and argues that it was fulfilled 
in Christ. You will note that the future tense is used in 
these Scriptures, showing that they pertained to the future. 

We now come to Daniel, the second chapter, a prophecy 
uttered about 603 B. C, and climaxes with the Kingdom 
of God. To expedite matters, we epitomize from Brents: 
"During the time the Jews were held captive by Nebuchad- 
nezzar, king of Babylon, God made known to him, in a 
dream — which was interpreted by Daniel, one of the Jewish 
captives — certain great national changes that were to take 
place, in which were foretold the destruction of his own 
government and three others, which were to consecutively 
arise after it; and finally the establishment of the kingdom 
of God, which was never to be destroyed, but was to fill 
the whole earth and stand forever. As these kingdoms were 
to succeed each other in regular chronological order, we 
have only to follow them up and see the rise and fall of 
each, noting carefully the dates as we proceed, in order 
to see when God established His Kingdom."^ 

To steer clear of reckless speculation or fantastic 
guessing — of which I fear too many are guilty — we empha- 
size on Chart No. 3 (p. 81) those facts only which surely 
pertain to the four world powers, the divisions and the 
Kingdom of God: and all this is gathered from the second 
and seventh chapters of Daniel, which were written in 
Chaldee, for a specific purpose, as we shall see. The eighth 



Gospel Plan of Salvation, p. 151. 



The Birth of the Kingdom 



71 



chapter, however, the vision of which came fifty years after 
Nebuchadnezzar's dream (i. e., 553 B. C.) pertains to two 
world powers only; and the persecution of the Jews under 
Antiochus was, with the rest of Daniel, written in Hebrew.^ 

The World Kingdoms. 



BABY- o MEDO- 
LONIAN . PERSIAN 



MACE- U ROMAN 
DONIAN • 



SO 



Dan. 2:44 
(600 B. C.) 



'In the days of those kings shall the 
God of heaven set up a kingdom." 



^<5 



Isa. 2:1-3; 62:1-3. 
Mic. 4:1-3. 
(725 B. C.) 



Matt. 3:1, 2; 4:17; 

18:3. 
Mark 1:14,15; 

15 :43. 
Luke 9:27; 12:31. 
24:46,47. 



6:10; 
9:1; 
32; 



16:18; 
12:34; 
19:11; 



(SEE CHART 3-A) 

World Kingdoms vs. God's Kingdoms. 

The head of gold in Nebuchadnezzar's image repre- 
sented, according to Daniel's interpretation, the Babylonian 
Empire which ended in 538 B. C, when it was overthrown 
by Cyrus, King of Persia, and Darius, King of Media, who 
were kinsmen. The name of the Babylonian Empire was, 
therefore, changed to the Medo-Persian kingdom, repre- 
sented by the silver breast and arms of the image. The 
second world power began in 538 B. C, and was over- 
thrown by Alexander, king of Macedon, in 331 B. C, when 
the government was re-named the Macedonian Kingdom. 

" Jamleson, Faussett and Brown : "Daniel marks the division by writing 
the first part in Chaldee; and the second and introduction in Hebrew; 
the former, referring to the powers of the world, in the language of the 
then dominant world-power linger which he lived. The latter relating to 
the people of God in their own language." 



MAPLE'S Historical and Scriptural CHART 

(A Miniature Reproduction) 

Study it in connection with Lectures III to VIII. 




[ECosta 



imwi^^ i 






^An'^i 






NOTES.- 

1. Prophecy from B, C. 725 to 500 predicts 
the founding of the kingdom as future ; as does 
history from the fall of Babylonian Empire to, 
"In the days of the Roman Rulers." 

2. The synoptics show it as then coming. 

3. Acts, the Epistles and Revelation refer to 
the Church (kingdom) as in actual existence. 

4. It began A. D. 30. 

5. The New Testament was written from A. 
D. 50 to 100. 

6. Sprinkling was introduced 251 A. D., and 
authorized in 1311. 



.V^ 




7,2 The Maple Lectures 

We do not learn from the 2d of Daniel that either the Medo- 
Persian or Macedonian kingdoms would be divided^ though 
we read that the Roman, or fourth, "shall be a divided 
kingdom." 

In Dan., 5:28 and 8:6,20 (later prophecies) the 
Medo-Persian is represented as a bicephalous kingdom ; and 
in Dan., 8 : 8, 22 it was predicted that the Macedonian 
would eventually become quaternary. 

There is some difference of opinion as to just when the 
Macedonian Monarchy — represented by the brass — ended 
and the Roman Empire began. Our Advent friends give 
168 B. C.,^ while J. A. Battenfield says 67 B. C.^ There 
is absolutely no historical evidence that Battenfield is 
correct and little for the Advent date; yet I presume these 
dates jibe the better with their prophetic plans. 

In view of all the data I have gathered,^ I conclude 
with Brents and others that the divisions of the Macedonian 
Monarchy merged into the Roman Empire — the iron-clay 
kingdom — which began 31 B. C, divided in 395 A. D. into 
the Western and Eastern Empires. The former fell in 
476, the latter in 1453. 

Without going into a minute application of the Scrip- 
tures to each of these governments, it is sufficient for our 
present purpose to show, as we think we have done, that 
these governments did, in their order, overthrow and suc- 
ceed each other. Then, as they are numbered, first, second, 
third and fourth in the interpretation given by Daniel, it 
is certain that theyj following in that numerical order, and 
each one consuming its predecessor, are the kingdoms indi- 
cated. 



■^ Bible Footlights. 

s "The Great Demonstration" also gives 328 B. C. as date when Medo- 
Persian fell. 9App. C. 3. 



The Birth of the Kingdom 73 

As Daniel declared^ "In the days of those kings/' 
meaning beyond doubt the Roman rulers^ whether they 
began in 168, 67, or 31 B. C. (the exact date is not essential 
to my argument), "the God of heaven shall set up a king- 
dom." We must find the setting up of this kingdom, within 
the limits of those Roman rulers — that is, not farther back 
than 31 B. C. and not later at the most than 1453 A. D. 
This prophecy annihilates the theories that the kingdom 
began before the foundation of the world, or with Adam, 
or, in the days of Abraham; it must begin "in the days of 
those kings" — some time. 

Inasmuch as Daniel prophesied, as I believe, from about 
603 to 535 B. C. and the last of the O. T. books were 
written about 400 B. C, we have a period of 400 years 
between the Testaments, covered by history and the 
Apocrypha, some of which is the fulfillment of prophecy, 
especially Daniel's. ^° Ignorance of this, which we can not 
take time to consider now, has led some to misapply his 
predictions. 

"It Is at Hand." 

Passing on to, say, A. D. 26, in the territory and time 
of the Roman rulers,^^ we find in Matt., 3: 1,2: "And in 
those days cometh John the Baptist, saying, "Repent ye; 
for the Kingdom of heaven" — was established before the 
foundation of the world .f* In the days of Adam or Abra- 
ham ? Oh, no ! John did not say he was establishing 
the kingdom, or that it had been established, but "it is at 
hand/* 

Matt., 4: 17, "From that time began Jesus to preach and 
to say, 'Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven ' " — was 



10 App. C. 3. 
"Luke, 3:1. 



74 The Maple Lectures 

established in the wilderness by John the Baptist? No, no ! 
Not back with Adam, or Abraham either, but Jesus said 
it, "is at hand." In Matt., 6: 10, Jesus taught His disciples 
to pray, "Thy kingdom come." It had not come at that 
time; and in verse 33 He commanded them, "But seek ye 
first his kingdom." Why seek it if it was already estab- 
lished and they were in it? When He sent out the twelve 
on the restricted commission He said, "And as ye go, preach, 
saying 'the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' "^^ 

"Matt., 16: 18, Jesus said, "Upon this rock, I will build 
my church." I zvill build — future tense. And in verse 28 
He said: "There are some of them that stand here who 
shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of 
man coming in his kingdom." Again, 18: 3, to the disciples, 
"Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye" (ye, 
disciples who follow me) "shall in no wise enter into the 
kingdom of heaven," showing that the kingdom was then 
future. 

We come to Mark's record. Don't get impatient or 
sleepy ; you wanted what the Book says and I am trying 
to give it to you. In 1: 14, 15 Jesus preached to Jews, 
saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is 
at hand: repent ye, and believe in the gospel." I read 
now 9:1: "And he said unto them. Verily I say unto you. 
There are some here of them that stand by, who shall in 
no wise taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God 
come with power." In 12 : 34 Jesus consoled one by, "Thou 
art not far from the kingdom of God;" and 15: 43 says that 
at the death of Jesus "there came Joseph of Arimathaea, 
a councillor of honorable estate, who also himself was 



12 Matt., 10:5. 



The Birth of the Kingdom 75 

looking for the kingdom of God; and he boldly went in 
unto Pilate^ and asked for the body of Jesus." 

The testimony of I.uke next: 9:27 reads, "But I tell 
you of a truth. There are some of them that stand here 
who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the king- 
dom of God." When Jesus sent out the seventy He told 
them to preach, "The kingdom of God is come nigh unto 
you."^^ I read now 12:31,32, spoken to the disciples: 
"Yet seek ye his kingdom, and these things shall be added 
unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's 
good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Again, in 19: 11 
we have, "And as they heard these things, he added and 
spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and 
because they supposed that the kingdom of God was 
immediately to appear." What caused them to suppose that 
the kingdom of God was immediately to appear.? "The 
kingdom is at hand" was in the air. At the Last Supper, in 
the very shadow of the cross, our Lord said, "I say unto 
you, I shall not drink from henceforth of the fruit of the 
vine, until the kingdom of God shall. come." Lastly, we 
read Luke, 24:46,47, "Thus it is written that the Christ 
should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day: 
and that repentance and remission of sins should be 
preached in his name unto all the nations, beginning from 
Jerusalem." 

Matthew Henry comments thus : "That they must begin 
at Jerusalem; there they must preach their first Gospel 
sermon; there the Gospel Church must be first formed; 
there the Gospel day must dawn and thence that light shall 
go forth which must take hold on the ends of the earth. 
And why must they begin there? First, because thus it was 



"Luke, 10: 9-11. 



76 The Maple Lectures 

written^ and therefore it behooved them to take this method. 
The word of the Lord must go forth from Jerusalem (Isa., 
2:3; Joel, 2:32; 3: 16; Obad., 21; Zeeh., 14:8). 

"The Gospel is a law, a law of faith; it is the word of 
the Lord. It went forth from Zion, where the temple was 
built, and from Jerusalem. Christ Himself began in Galilee 
(Matt., 4:23; Luke, 23:5). But when He commanded 
His apostles to preach the Gospel to all nations He ap- 
pointed them to begin at Jerusalem (Luke, 24:47; Rom., 
15: 19). 

"Though none of them had their home in Galilee, yet 
they must stay at Jerusalem, there to receive the promise 
of the Spirit (Acts, 1:4). And in the temple on Mount 
Zion they preached the Gospel. This honor was allowed 
to Jerusalem even after Christ was crucified there, for the 
sake of what it had been, and it was by this Gospel, which 
took rise from Jerusalem, that the Gospel Church was 
established on the top of the mountain. This was the rod 
of divine strength that was sent forth out of Zion. (Ps., 
110:2.)" 

The synoptics, you see, make the kingdom in the future, 
never in the past, as we have read. Smith's Bible Diction- 
ary, art. Church, has thus: "From the Gospels, then, we 
learn that Christ was about to establish His heavenly 
kingdom on earth, which was to be the substitute for the 
Jewish Church and Kingdom, now doomed to destruction 
(Matt., 21:43)." 

When bee hunters hear the bees they go in the direction 
of the sound until it seems to come from above, thence 
behind. Then by walking back and forth and around they 
locate the bee tree. 

They say you can (or some, I mean) take a peach tree 



The Birth of the Kingdom 77 

limb — now don't call me an old fogy and — I am just telling 
what some think they can do — hold the forked limb in their 
hands so, walk slowly, saying, "H^O, H^O/' seven times, 
and when they get over a vein of water, that limb will 
twist, and turn down, and even point back when he goes 
past. The point indicated is the place to get a good well. 
(Ira C. Moore says, "If this were true, it would pull all 
the peach-tree limbs off of the trees.) 

The Beginning. Jerusalem, Pentecost. 

These are homely illustrations of how we can locate 
the beginning of the kingdom or church. In other words, 
before the death of Jesus the kingdom is future; and after 
His resurrection and just before His ascension He said, as 
Luke tells us in Acts, 1:8: "But ye shall receive power, 
when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be 
my witnesses, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and 
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." 

Thus, we see, Jerusalem is the beginning place, and 
the 2d of Acts shows Pentecost to have been the time of 
the beginning. In Acts, 11: 15, Peter testifies as to what 
took place at the house of Cornelius thus, "And as I began 
to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at 
the beginning." When was that beginning? McGarvey, 
Knowling, Wendt, Holzmann, Howson and Spence all say 
it was Pentecost; and with Jerusalem the birthplace we 
understand why Paul in Gal., 4:26 says, "Jerusalem is 
our mother." 

The word "kingdom" occurring at least 27 times and 
"church" more than 60 times after Pentecost, shows con- 
clusively that its then existence was an actuality.^* 



"App. c. 1. 



7^ The Maple Lectures 

Our next lecture, "The Early Church/' traces the 
urch of Christ frc 
the Catholic Church. 



Church of Christ from A. D. 30 to 331, when it became 



APPENDICES TO LECTURE IIL 

App. C. 1. — Scriptural References on: 

{a) The Kingdom. — Matt., 3 : 2 ; 4 : 17, 23 ; 6 : 3, 10, 19, 
20; 6: 10, 33; 7:21; 8: 12; 9:35; 10:7; 11: 11, 12; 12:28; 
13:11-52; 16:18,19,28; 18:1,3,4,23; 19:14,24; 
20:1,21,43; 21:31,43; 22:2; 23:13; 24:14; 25:1,34; 
26:29; Mark, 1:14,15,26,30; 4:11; 6:23; 9:1,47; 
10:14,15,23,24; 11:10; 12:34; 14:25; 15:43; Luke, 
1:33; 4:43; 6:20; 7:28; 8:1,10; 9:2,11,27,62; 10:9, 
11; 11:2,18,20; 12:31,32; 13:18,20,28,29; 14:15; 
16:16; 17:20,21; 18:16,17,24,25,29; 19:11; 21:31; 
22:16,18,29,30; 23:42,51; John, 3:3,5; 18:36. Acts, 
1:3,6; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23,31; Rom., 
14:17; I. Cor., 4:20; 6:9,10; 15:24,50; Gal., 5:21; 
Eph., 5:5; Col., 1:13; 4:11; I. Thess., 2:12; 11. Thess., 
1:5; 11. Tim., 4:1,18; Heb., 1:8; 12:28; James, 2:5; 

II. Pet., 1: 11; Rev., 1:9; 11: 15; 12: 10. 

(6) The Church.— Acts, 5:11; 7:38; 8:1; 9:31 
11:26; 13: 1; 14:23,27; 15:3,22,41; 16: 5, 8; 18: 17,22 
19:37; Acts, 2:47; 8: 3 ; 1 1 : 22 ; 12: 1, 5 ; 15 : 4; 20: 17, 28 
Rom., 16:4,15,16,23; I. Cor., 1:2; 4:17; 6:4; 7:17 
8:1,16,19,23; 10:32; 11:8,16,18,22,28; 12:13,28 
14:4-35; 16: 1, 19; Gal., 1:13,22; Eph., 1 : 22 ; 3: 10, 21 
5:24-32; Phil., 3:6; 4:15; Col., 1:18,24; 4:15,16 
L Thess., 2:14; II. Thess., 1:4; I. Tim., 3:5; 5:16 
Phile., 2 ; Heb., 2:12; 12 : 23 ; James, 5 : 14 ; I. Pet., 5:13 

III. John, 6, 9, 10; Rev., 1: 4, 11, 20; 2d and 3d chapters. 



The Birth of the Kingdom 79 

App. C. 2. — Kingship of Jesus. 

(a) Prophecies. — Our rule as to prophecy and its ful- 
fillment is to regard as predictive those O. T. Scriptures 
only which are specifically and clearly quoted or para- 
phrased in the N. T. as being fulfilled. This will diminish 
the so-called prophecies^ and compel us to accept what 
inspired men have written, rather than what uninspired 
men say is prophetic. (Test Gen., 3:15; 49:10; Isa., 
9: 6; 32: 1, etc., by this rule.) 

Ps., 110:1; cf. Matt., 22:44; Mark, 12:36; Luke, 
20:42,43; Acts, 2:34,35; Heb., 1:13; — Ps., 132:17; 
cf. Luke, 1:69; — Isa., 55:3; cf. Act, 13:34; — Jer., 23:6; 
Mic, 5:2; cf. Matt., 2:6; — Zech., 9:9; cf. Matt., 21:5; 
John, 12:15; Matt., 2:2,6; 16:28; 25:31-34; 26:64; 
27:11; Mark, 14:62; Luke, 1:32,33; 19:38; John, 
1:49; 12:13; 18:37; 19:19-22; Acts, 10:36; I. Cor., 
2:8; 15:24-28; I. Tim., 6: 15; Rev., 11: 15; 15:3; 17: 14; 
19: 16. 



App. C. 3. 

(a) The following throws light on the mooted question 
of the dates when the Macedonian rule ended and the 
Roman Empire began: Cassell Cyclopaedia — "Rome was 
founded by Romulus about 753 B. C. On its first founda- 
tion was governed by kings (753-510 B. C.) ; afterwards 
as a republic, by consuls, etc. (510-3] B. C.) ; and after- 
wards by emperors, of whom Augustus was the first (31 
B. C. - A. D. 476). In the time of the emperors till Dio- 
cletian, the empire embraced nearly the whole of the then 
known world. It was then (A. D. 296) divided into the 
Western and Eastern Empires, but was reunited under 
Constans in 340, and again divided by Valentinian and 



80 The Maple Lectures 

Valens in 364. The final division was in 395. The West- 
ern Empire fell in 476, but the Eastern Empire survived 
till the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453." 
(h) The following is compiled from the Historical 
Gazeteer in Webster's International Dictionary. (Ridpath, 
Scudder and Grosvenor are the historical authorities) : 

334 — Alexander undertakes the conquest of Persia; Defeats the 
Persian army at the Granicus. (May.) 

333 — ^Defeats Darius near Issus. (Nov.) 

332 — Enters Jerusalem. 

331 — Overcomes the Persians at Gaugamela. Goes to Babylon, 
Susa and Persepales. 

324 — Returns to Babylon, dies there, kingdom divided among his 
generals. 

168— Macedonia subdued by Romans under Paulus Aemilius, 
divided into four provinces. Constituted a Roman province 
governed by a pro consul. End of the Macedonian Monarchy. 

148 — Revolt in Macedonia. 

147 — Mattellus makes Macedonia a Roman Province. 
81 — Sept. 2, Octavianus defeated Antony and Cleopatra in the 

Battle of Actium. 
27 — Octavianus receives title of Augustus from the senate. Be- 
ginning of the Empire (sometimes dated from the Battle of 
Actium, 31 B. C). 



(c): 

175 — Antiochus IV. began to reign in Syria. 

170 — He takes Jerusalem and plunders the temple. 

168 — He sent Appollonius to Hellenize Jerusalem. He persecutes 
the Jews. Temple is defiled. 

167 — Jews revolt against Antiochus, under Mattathias and five 
sons (the Maccabees). 

165 — Judas Maccabee retakes Jerusalem. Purified the temple. 
Re-established public worship. 

161 — Jews made a treaty with Rome. 

135 — Simon Maccabee obtains recognition of the Jewish inde- 
pendency. 



The Birth of the Kingdom 



81 



App. C. 4. 



OAjsiiej- 




Note. — The starting of the stone-kingdom is not simul- 
taneous with the smiting. The stone did not fill the whole 
earth at once. Jesus said^, "The kingdom is like unto a 



82 The Maple Lectures 

grain of mustard seed when it is grown it becomes a tree/' 
or "like leaven." In other words, the kingdom must grow 
before it smites the world kingdoms. This takes time — 
perhaps thousands of years between the starting — the 
setting up — and the smiting. (See Dan., 2: 34, 45.) 

How can Christ's kingdom smite other kingdoms, espe- 
cially when the other kingdoms in Dan., 2: 31-45 have gone 
down to pathetic dust? There is only one way, and that 
is to smite the basic principles or doings of present-day 
governments, all of which pattern after Babylonia, Medo- 
Persia, Macedon and Rome. And when this is done, by 
the truth — the only way — then the people of the saints 
shall control the kingdoms, and the saints shall receive the 
kingdom. 



THE EARLY CHURCH. 
(Lecture IV.) 



"Built, upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, 
Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone." — Paul. 



"The idea, underlying all, is God's gracious manifestation in 
the world — the kingdom of God; the meaning of all — the estab- 
lishment of this kingdom upon earth." — Edersheim. 



A retrospective view of our previous lectures may be 
in place as an introduction to our present theme. The 
first lecture emphasized the fundamental facts substantiated 
by science and the Scriptures ; there is a Higher Kingdom — 
a kingdom above those of nature, a kingdom of Heaven. 
The second lecture showed scientifically and Scripturally 
that miracles were at the beginning of nature's kingdoms 
and God's kingdom; that after fulfilling their foundational 
purpose, miracles passed away. In our third we learned 
that the Church or kingdom of God began in Jerusalem 
on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus, which 
we place at A. D. 30 — the commencement of the Early 
Church, the subject of our present theme. 
Persecutions Predicted. 

Going back to pre-Pentecostal times, we read that Jesus 
foretold the persecutions that would befall the Church in 
such memorable words as these: ''Blessed are ye when 
men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all 
manner of evil against you falsely for my sake;" "If they 
have persecuted me they will also persecute you." And 
in the parable of the sower he prophesied the cause of 



84 The Maple Lectures 

persecution thus: "When tribulation or persecution ariseth 
because of the word^ straightway he stumbleth."^ 

I divert here long enough to say that when one preaches 
the word — the truth and nothing else — he is sure to be 
persecuted. Most people do not enjoy persecutions, so they 
let others preach the word while they enjoy sail- trimming. 
Few have the grit to put on the whole armor of God, and 
stand, 

Jesus knew that any man who would present truth to 
a demoralized and dogmatized world made himself sure 
of severe persecutions. So, intending to send them forth 
into all the world to teach all things whatsoever He com- 
manded. He forewarned them of the consequences; and in 
our lecture tonight we will find the first fulfillment of 
Christ's predictions of persecutions. 

Aspect of the Primitive Church. 

We want, therefore, to get a panoramic or bird's-eye 
view of the Church of Christ from its birth — A. D. 30 to 
331, when by an edict of Constantine it took the name of 
Catholic Church. In enunciating that the Church began 
A. D. 30, I am aware that I contradict a popular idea 
(that it was 33 or 34) and that my dating necessitates the 
revising of that N. T. chronology based on the error that 
Jesus was baptized in A. D. 30 being about 30 years of 
age) and born A. D. 1. 

It becomes necessary at times to reiterate the fact that 
the devising of the Christian era is due to a Roman monk 
of the sixth century, who in fixing 753 A. U. C. (Building 
of Rome) as the date of the birth of Jesus, made a mistake 
of four vears at least; so that Jesus was born B. C. 4 as 



ic/. Matt., 5:10,43-45; Rom., 8:35; 12:4. 
' App. D. 1, on Chronology. 



The Early Church 85 

per this count.^ This error^ "too firmly established all 
over Christendom to be changed/' has caused much con- 
fusion in dating post-Pentecost events, and even after care- 
ful research we can only hope to be approximately correct 
in the dates we give. 

In our tracing the Church through the first century 
we can notice but few of the more important issues which 
directly or indirectly confirm the foundation and become 
a part, by precept or precedent, of the primitive Church. 

In the opening period of Acts we emphasize, first of 
all, the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a fulfillment of 
Jesus' promise,^ a confirming sign; and the speaking in 
tongues the means through which the most people were 
reached by the preaching of the gospel.* The Jews from 
every nation under heaven "were confounded because that 
every man heard them speaking in his own language."^ 
Peter preached to them the first full (should we use the 
descriptive full?) gospel sermon, with the result that they, 
or many of them at least, believed, and asked, "What shall 
we do }" — a pretty good indication that they had believed — 
and Peter told them, "Repent ye, and be baptized every 
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission 
of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
Spirit." Three thousand received his word and were bap- 
tized, and were added to the nucleoid congregation. 

Christian Communism. 

Out of their enthusiasm to tell the story of Jesus, or 
because they misunderstood or misapplied or literalized. 



3 Matt., 3:11; cf. Acts, 1:5; Matt., 10:19,20; Mark, 13:11; Luke, 
12:11,12; 21:14,15; John, 7:39; 14:26,27; 16:7,13. 
* App. D. 2, Gift of tongues. 
'^ Read Sec. of Acts. _ 



86 The Maple Lectures 

or took too seriously His teaching on riches/ or in view 
of His example^ were ready to sacrifice everything earthly 
for things spiritual, they plunged into communism; and 
this not as a result of a careful consideration of the eco- 
nomic and social conditions and the capitalistic system 
under which they lived/ In view of the fact that others, 
in after years, contributed to the poor saints at Jerusalem/ 
it may be that their needy condition was caused by their 
communistic conception of Christ's life and teaching; and 
yet it may be, as some explain, that their presentiment of 
coming persecutions, in which all their property would be 
lost anyway, they felt it best to use it for the immediate 
good of all. 

The spirit of generous self-sacrifice, their community 
conditions, and the beautiful charity of the opulent class 
toward the poor, did not exorcise the spirit of selfishness 
and jealousy, for we read that "there arose a murmuring 
of the Grecian Jews against the Hebrews, because their 
widows were neglected in the daily ministration."^ This 
led to the appointing of seven almoners, who are generally, 
though improperly, called deacons.^'' They were to see 
that equitable distribution was made to all. 

The Harbingers: Stephen and Philip. 

Of the seven, we mention two whose work was far- 
reaching. One was Steplien, full of faith, grace and 
power, and the Holy Spirit; "who wrought great wonders 
and signs among the people." 



6 Matt,, 6:24; 13:22; 19:21,24,29; Mark, 12:41-44; Luke, 12:13-21; 
16: 14-31. 

^ Acts, 2 : 44, 45 ; 4:32-35; 5:1-10. 

8 Acts, 11:29,30; 24:17, cf. 20:35; Rom., 15:25-28; I. Cor., 16:1-4; 
TL Cor,, 2: 1-15; 9: 1-15. 

8 Acts, 6:1, 

" App. D. 3, Church of Christ. 



The Early Church 87 

If it be true that Stephen and young Saul were orig- 
inally from Cilicia, and that Saul was one of those who 
disputed with Stephen^ and was not able to withstand the 
wisdom and the Spirit by which Stephen spoke, we may 
have a hint of Saul's zeal for Jehovah and his devotion to 
the Mosaic law, that won for him an early place in the 
Jewish Sanhedrin, so that, in after years, he regrettingly 
said of the Christians, "when they were put to death I 
gave my vote against them."^^ 

Moreover, if Saul heard the wonderful world-inclusive 
sermon of Stephen's, recorded in Acts, the seventh chapter, 
and saw his heaven-illumed face when they stoned him, and 
heard him say among other things, "Lord Jesus, receive 
my spirit," and kneeling down, "cried with a loud voice. 
Lord, lay not this sin to their charge," and then fell asleep — 
I'm trying to say that if Paul saw and heard all this (and 
the record says he was there and kept the garments of 
them that slew Stephen^^), then, brethren, I think I know 
what Jesus meant when to Saul, on the Damascus road, He 
said, "In the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why persecutest 
thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the goad." 

If we are justified in painting such a background, we 
can the more easily refute the Arminian dogma that Saul's 
conviction and faith came instantaneously, at midday, by 
the direct operation of the Holy Spirit, on the way to 
Damascus, and accept Paul's own words that "belief cometh 
of hearing and hearing by the word of Christ"^*'^ as the 
primary and prevalent teaching of the gospel. And too, 
if the word of Christ preached by Stephen was, in con- 
nection with other testimony, the means of Saul'js convic- 



" Acts, 26:10. 

12 Acts, 7: 55-60; 22: 20. 

"Rom., 10: 17. 



88 The Maple Lectures 

tion and belief in the Messiahship and Lordship of Jesus, 
then may we not conclude that Stephen was Paul's fore- 
runner and prototype? 

Moreover_, we may conclude that the Grecian proto- 
martyr's presentations became the basis of the Pauline 
preaching, and that Paul, figuratively, took up the mar- 
tyr's crown (Stephen means crown), accepted his hypostasis 
also, and in time became the great Apostle to the Gentiles. 

The other one of the seven, whose work was of great 
importance, was Philip, who, in the list, stands next to 
Stephen.^* While Jesus commissioned the Apostles to 
preach the gospel, beginning at Jerusalem, He also said: 
"And ye shall be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem and in 
all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the 
earth."i5 

Notwithstanding the example of Jesus and this world- 
wide commission, they remained in Jerusalem until the 
tribulation that arose about Stephen, when they were 
scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, except the 
Apostles, who were specially commanded to disciple all 
nations, but refused to leave the word of God and serve 
tables. ^^ And even those who were thus driven from the 
birth-city of the Church ''spoke the word to none save only 
to Jews."^''' 

But to Philip (perhaps a proselyte to the Jewish faith — 
Grecian name at least), more missionary than many hither- 
to, was left the task of preaching to others than the lost 
sheep of the house of Israel. Accordingly he "went down 
to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed unto them the 



"Acts, 6:5. 

15 Luke, 24: 47; Acts, 1: 8. 

i^Mark, 7:24-30; John, 4:4 — ; Matt., 28:19; Acts, 
"Acts, 8:1; 11: 19. 



The Early Church 89 

Christ/' and "when they believed Philip preaching good 
tidings concerning the kingdom of God and the name of 
Jesus Christy they were baptized, both men and women. "^^ 
Then, as now, another reaped the harvest from the previous 
sowing of the good seed.^^ And it was Philip who turned 
the Ethiopian officer from the old to the new way, and thus 
"Ethiopia shall haste to stretch out her hands unto God," 
was eventually realized.^*^ 

About the time when Saul was on his way to Damascus 
to apprehend the disciples of Jesus, Philip was on the road 
which leads southward to Gaza, to preach Jesus to the 
Ethiopian. To me it is a beautiful thought that more than 
twenty years afterwards Paul and Philip are brought 
together under one roof at Caesarea, and in the home, for 
the many years past, of the Evangelist. ^^ 

If Stephen influenced Paul, it may be that Philip's 
evangelistic work was an incentive to others, especially to 
Peter, to mingle with and preach to others than Jerusalem 
Jews. The record indicates that Peter was being guided 
gradually toward the Gentiles."^ The simple fact that "he 
abode many days in Joppa with one Simon, a tanner,"^^ — 
who in his business violated the rabbinic law, therefore not 
a good Jew — was an omen that ere long Peter would preach 
to the Gentiles. 

The tenth and eleventh chapters of Acts narrate the 
conversion of Cornelius and his house and Peter's defense 
before the Jerusalem brethren, all of which occurred not 
far from A. D. 40. 



18 Acts, 


8: 


:12. 




19 John, 


4 


: 4-30. 




^'> Ps., 68 : 


31. 




21 Acts, 


8 


: 40; 21 


:8. 


23 Acts, 


8: 


; 14-25; 


9 : 32-' 


^' Acts, 


9: 


43; 10 


:16. 



90 The Maple Lectures 

Reverting to Paul, it is significant that he did not go 
to Jerusalem to the Apostles to have his call to the Apostle- 
ship confirmed, but went away into Arabia; and again 
returned into Damascus. Then after three years he went 
up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, where he preached boldly 
in the name of the Lord and disputed against the Grecian 
Jews.^* When these Jews were goaded by the truths as 
Stephen had goaded Paul by the same, they, like he when in 
Jerusalem last, sought to kill him; and the brethren sent 
him to Tarsus. This, the city of his birth, became his 
headquarters, from which he evangelized in Cilicia and 
Syria. ^^ 

Oh, the many questions as to his work and life in Tarsus 
that beg for answers ! Were his parents living — was he 
compelled to forsake them and brothers and sisters ; for- 
sake all for Jesus? Was he instrumental in bringing some 
of his kinsmen into the kingdom ?^° I wish I knew. Inas- 
much as we can locate only a part of the maltreatments 
referred to in II. Cor., 11:24-25, are we justified in con- 
cluding that some befell him in his home city and province? 

Barnabas and Paul Co-Laborers. 

Regardless of the different views of these things, we 
do know that in due time, about A. D. 43, Barnabas "went 
forth to Tarsus to seek for Saul, and when he found him 
he brought him unto Antioch."^'^ It was in this cosmo- 
politan city, where Barnabas and Paul co-labored and 
taught a whole year," that the disciples were given the 
new name as per prophecy.^^ Hence about fourteen years 



24 Gal., 1:16-19; Acts, 9:26-30. 

25 Gal., 1:21; cf. Acts, 15:23,41. 
2«Acts, 23:16-23; Rom., 16:7,11,21. 
27 Acts, 11:25, 26. 

28App. D. 4. 



The Early Church 91 

after the Church was founded the new name was given 
to the disciples. 

About this time the prophet Agabus signified that there 
would be a dearth: which came to pass in the days of 
Claudius. Acting on this prognostication, the Christians 
in Antioch sent relief to the brethren in Judea by the hand 
of Barnabas and Paul.^^ This was about A. D. 45 and 
Paul's second visit to Jerusalem after his conversion. 

In A. D. 50 one of the most, if not the most, important 
meetings of the apostolic age took place in Jerusalem. It 
was not a council in the sense in which historians use the 
word — it was no more than an extemporary conference. It 
was occasioned by certain Judaizers who went from Jeru- 
salem to Antioch, presumably by the sanction of James, 
and attempted the re-imposition of the "yoke of bondage" — 
that is, the Law of Moses — on the Gentile converts. 

Paul and Barnabas argued against these "false breth- 
ren," as Paul branded them; but the congregation was then, 
as congregations are now under similar conditions, con- 
fused and divided. So Paul and Barnabas and others were 
appointed to go up to Jerusalem "unto the Apostles and 
elders about this question.^*' 

Upon their arrival in the city they had private confer- 
ences with the more influential members of the congrega- 
tion, and especially with James, Peter and John:^^ after 
which "the Apostles and elders were gathered together to 
consider of this matter" ^ — the wliole church, "brethren" 
being included. "^^ 



29 Acts, 11:27-30; 12:25; see "Life and Epistles of Paul," App. 1, by 
Conybeare and Howson, for Paul's visits to Jerusalem, mentioned in 
Gal. L and 11. and Acts. 

*" Acts, 15: 1 — and Gal., 2: 1 — are supplementary. 

31 Gal., 2:2,9. 

32 Acts, 15:6, 22, 23. " 



92 The Maple Lectures 

The Great Controversy. Church Conference. 

Peter was the first to address the assembly. Briefly 
he reminded them that God had chosen him to begin the 
work which Paul had only been continuing, and that he 
himself actually had fruits among the Gentiles ; that God 
approved his course by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and 
made no distinction between Jews and Gentiles in their 
accepting Jesus. He culminated by, "Now therefore why 
make trial of God, that ye should put a yoke upon the 
neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we 
were able to bear;" and closed by declaring that Jesus was 
the Saviour of all. 

The next speakers were Paul and Barnabas, who re- 
hearsed the signs and wonders God had wrought through 
them among the Gentiles, which, in view of their past mis- 
sionary work, took no little time.^^ The old battle — be- 
tween formalism and spiritual service, between the old and 
the new, between Judaism and pure Christianity — once 
fought without, was now renewed within the Church. 

Thus far, the arguments were against the Judaizers. 
Reinforcements may rally them or put them to rout. 
James, in a few opportune words, brought up the reinforce- 
ments. "Brethren, hearken unto me," he began, and then 
reminded them of Peter's testimony: how God visited the 
Gentiles and took out a people for His name, all of which 
was in fulfillment of prophecy. "Wherefore," he con- 
cluded, "my judgment is that we trouble not them that from 
among the Gentiles turn to God; but that we write unto 
them, that they abstain from the pollution of idols, and 
from fornication, and from what is strangled and from 



33 His first missionary tour was prior to this conference. 
1:1—; 14:1-28; cf. U. Cor., 11:23-27; H. Tim., 3:11. 



See Acts, 



The Early Church 93 

blood." This decision did not exactly suit the Judaizing 
party^ notwithstanding they had called James, The Just;, 
regarded him as loyal to the law, and relied implicity on 
him to argue in their behalf. 

The Right Hands of Fellowship. 

It was then that James and Peter gave Paul and Bar- 
nabas the right hands of fellowship. John, the beloved 
Apostle of Jesus, who had remained silent during the dis- 
cussions, united in this fellowship.^* These three ''pillars*' 
of truth, thereby, approved of the mission of Paul and 
Barnabas to the Gentiles. ^^ This was the only meeting of 
Paul and John recorded in Scripture, and the last notice 
of John until nearly fifty years later, when he was an exile 
on the Isle of Patmos, "for the word of God and the testi- 
mony of Jesus. "^^ 

As further precaution, the Jerusalem congregation chose 
Judas and Silas from their number to accompany Paul and 
Barnabas as far as Antioch, and to avoid misunderstandings 
sent with them this written decision. Let me read it (reads 
Acts, 15:23-29). Someway, friends, I feel that James 
drafted that letter, and when I compare the same, and his 
speech, with the Epistle of James, I am impressed with 
a common authorship. And more: I am inclined to place 
the writing of the Epistle of James earlier than many 
date it (about A. D. 50) ; and perhaps an outgrowth of 
the Jerusalem meeting.^^ 



'* Gal., 2:9 (the only place where "hands of fellowship" occurs). Acts, 
15:25. 

35 Read I. Tim., 3:15, where an interpretation makes Timotheus also a 
pillar; cf. Rev., 3: 12. 

3" Rev., 1:9. 

" (a) James, son of Zebedee — brother of John. Associated with Peter 
and John as Apostles. Martyred A. D. 42. Acts, 12:1,2. (b) James, the 
Less — son of Alphaeus. Apostle. Mark, 15:40. (c) James, the Just — 
Brother of Jesus, not an apostle. Mark, 6:1-6; John, 7:3-5; I. Cor., 



94 The Maple Lectures 

Events at Antioch. 

Time does not permit us to go with these Apostolic 
messengers from Jerusalem to Antioch, and to enjoy the 
assembly of the saints there, when the cogent report was 
read; and to hear Judas and Silas speak in confirmation 
of the recent conference, and vouch for the authenticity 
of the written decree. I imagine the thankfulness and 
consolation with which the anxious and perplexed brethren 
received the communication and exhortations.^® 

When all seemed to be at peace again, two painful 
scenes were witnessed by the Antioch congregation. Peter, 
for some cause unknown to us, left Jerusalem and lived for 
a time in Antioch. In harmony with his recent declara- 
tions and agreement at Jerusalem, he made no distinction 
between the Jewish and the Gentile Christians, until certain 
of the old Judaic disturbers came down from Jerusalem, 
and, "fearing them," he withdrew from the Gentile breth- 
ren, and influenced other Jews and Barnabas to follow 
him. Imagine the confusion and doubt aroused among these 
disciples, to whom the name Christian was first given, when 
Paul "resisted Peter to the face," and that before all.^^ 

And, brethren, listen; we are compassed about with a 
great cloud of critics — within the kingdom and without — 
and our actions, our words (what we say and the way we 
say it) may drive some out of, or away from, the church 
to their eternal ruin. Let's be careful, for their sake and 
Christ's. 

I rejoice that we can turn to one of Peter's epistles and 



15:7; Acts, 1:14; 12:17; 15:19-29; 21:18; Gal., 1:19; 2:8-12. Martyred 
by the High Priest Ananus, A. D. 62. Author of the Epistle of James, so 
most critics say. Caton, by identifying "The Less" and "The Just," 
argues that the Son of Alphaesus, whom he says Josephus calls "The 
Just," was the author. 

3s Acts, 15:27, 32. , 

s9Gal., 2: 11,14. 



The Early Church 95 

read the touching and tender reference to "our beloved 
brother^ Paul/' and feel assured that the fifteen years since 
their dissension in Antioch had wrought their everlasting 
reconciliation^ and that both were prepared to enter the 
everlasting kingdom^ for M^hich^ as martyrs^, they soon 
suffered.^^ 

The other episode to which we referred was in connec- 
tion with the future work of Paul and Barnabas. Paul 
proposed to Barnabas that they return and visit the cities 
of their first missionary journey and see how the brethren 
fared. Barnabas agreed^ and suggested that John Mark — 
who was his cousin — accompany them. To this Paul 
objected^ on the ground that he had deserted them on their 
former journey; "And there arose a sharp contention, so 
that they parted asunder one from the other/' and Bar- 
nabas with Mark sailed unto Cyprus — their original home; 
but Paul chose Silas and departed commended by the 
brethren. ^-"^ 

I wish we could go with them from city to city; see 
them in answer to the Macedonian call crossing the Helles- 
pont into Europe, attend with them that prayer meeting 
by the river — their first on European soil — when Lydia and 
her household were baptized. And, too, the imprisonment 
of the missionaries in Philipi, and the conversion of the 
jailor and his household; but we must pass by six or eight 
years of Paul's evangelistic activities. 

Paul, the Prisoner. 

It was about A. D. 58 that he was in Jerusalem again. 
To counteract the influence of rumors that preceded him 
to Judea, he followed the advice of James and the elders, 



40 II. Pet, 3:15, 16. 

41 Acts, 13:13; 15:36-41; cf. 4:36. 



96 The Maple Lectures 

and catered to the Jews that believed.*^ But this did not 
prevent the enemies from Asia stirring up the multitude, 
who laid hold on Paul to kill him. The Roman soldiers, 
stationed in Fort Antonio to subdue rebellious Jews, or 
quell riots, rushed down on tlie mob and when they saw the 
soldiers, "they left off beating Paul." The captain ordered 
Paul to be bound in chains and inquired who he was and 
what he had done, but w^hen he could not learn from the 
tumult, they started with the prisoner toward the castle. 
The Roman officer gave Paul leave to speak to the Jews, 
and standing on the stairs he testified as recorded in the 
22d of Acts. The Jews vowed to assassinate Paul, but 
the captain thwarted them by sending him by night to 
Caesarea. 

After hearings before Felix, Festus and Agrippa, Paul 
was sent to Rome, where he arrived in 61. Although a 
prisoner, he was permitted to live in his own hired house, 
but under guard. His friends ministered unto him, while 
to them and to some connected with the Roman government 
he expounded the truth. ^^ 

During this two or three years' imprisonment Paul 
wrote the following epistles: Eph., Phil., Col., Phile., and 
perhaps one to the Laodiceans, as CoL, 4: 16 indicates. 
Immediately after his acquittal in 63, Paul started out to 
tell the old story. The heathen Nero, not distinguishing 
between the sects of Jews, inaugurated a severe persecu- 
tion the following year. It was during this terrible time 
(64 to 67) that Paul wrote I. Timothy from Macedonia 
and Titus from Ephesus. Late in 67 he was arrested at 
Nicopolis and taken to Rome. 



42 Acts, 21:17-27. 

*3 Acts, 28 : 30, 31 ; Phil., 1 : 12, 13 ; 4 : 22. 



The Early Church 97 

His first incarceration was not as severe as the second, 
when he was placed in a dungeon and the brethren could not 
reach him so freely. The reason for the difference is clear. 
Burrus (a liberalist among the Romans, as Gamaliel was 
among the Jews) was pretorian prefect and to him Julius 
delivered Paul in 61.^* Seneca — a Stoic philosopher over 
whose teaching a glimmer or moonlight ray of Christianity 
was diffused — was Nero's tutor. 

For the first ten years of Nero's reign 64 to 64) the 
administration was in the hands of these two advisers, and 
they held the Beast at bay; but Burrus died in 62 and 
Seneca killed himself in 65, so the cruel Nero was free to 
persecute as he pleased. 

At this time Paul dispatched his second message to 
Timothy, in which he directs him to "bring the cloak he 
left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the 
parchments;" and I conclude that Timothy made his way 
to Rome, and to the dungeon. When he was "set at lib- 
erty" (escaped perhaps?) he carried with him the treatise 
to the Hebrews, from which, as a matter of precaution, 
Paul omitted the usual marks of authorship. ^^ 

Just as Jesus had said, "the baptism that I am baptized 
withal shall ye be baptized," Paul wrote to Timothy, "I am 
already being offered, and the time of my departure is 
come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the 
course, T have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up 
for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the 
righteous judge, shall give to me at that day; and not to 
me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing." 

So Paul's earthly life ended — tradition and the 



** App. D. 5, Has, history on this. See Acts, 28: IC. 
^MI. Tim., 4:13; Heb., 13:23. 



98 The Maple Lectures 

"Fathers" say — by decapitation on the Ostian Road outside 
of Rome : but his spirit and teachings live on and on. In 
this period of excruciating persecutions Peter closed his 
life's work — was crucified with his head down^ as tradition 
gives. 

Coming down to A. D. 95^ we find John an exile "for 
the word of God and testimony of Jesus" on Patmos (a 
Roman penitentiary) — a desolate^ craggy island^ only 
twenty-eight miles in circumference^ in the Aegean Sea, 
and near Ephesus. 

The Confirmation. 

Thus the first century of Christianity closed. Review- 
ing the history of the Early Church, we find this the period 
of, not only the establishment, but also the confirmation of 
the kingdom. First, we note that the teaching of Jesus 
became the doctrine, the faith. You recall in Acts, 1 : 1-3 
that Jesus began to do and to teach. And Paul says in 
Hebrews that the great salvation was jirst spoken through 
the Lord and confirmed by those that heard. Indeed, Jesus 
once told the disciples that there were certain truths that 
would be revealed to them; and Paul referred to one great 
truth, at least, in the 3d of Ephesians. 

Jesus commanded the disciples to "teach all things 
whatsoever he commanded," and promised the Holy Spirit 
to teach them all things and bring to their remembrance 
all that He had taught them. Moreover, Christ promised 
them miracles to confirm the truth, "and they went forth, 
and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and 
confirming the word by the signs that followed." 

These powers prevailed during that period for a specific 
purpose and then passed away, as the Scriptures (on 



The Early Church 99 

Chart 4) indicate. In the 4th of Ephesians^ Paul speaks of 
certain officers in the Church and among them are Apostles 
and prophets^ with definite services to reach specific ends — 
the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of 
God. These ends were reached in this confirmation period. 

Growth of the New Testament. 

Our chart indicates the growth of the N. T. Scriptures. 
As the Church began A. D. 30, and the first of the N. T. 
was written about A. D. 50, there was twenty years during 
which the Church had no written law; hence the need of 
the inspired Apostles and supernatural knowledge. 

You will note also that 10 books were written during 
the first ten years, 12 in the next ten years, and 5 in the 
last twenty years. So by the close of the first century all 
of the N. T. was given, in which is the new law to govern 
them, as it should govern us. (See chart on p. 100.) 

It is significant that miraculous manifestations occurred, 
for the most part, before A. D. 60; and while the writings 
of the 60 to 70 period refer to some miracles, they are, in 
most cases, to those of the earlier epoch; showing that 
signs decreased as the N. T. literature increased. 

With all this be'fore us, we understand what Paul means 
when to the Corinthians in A. D. 57 he wrote, "Love never 
faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done 
away ; whether there be tongues, they shall cease ; whether 
there be knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know 
in part, and we prophesy in part ; but when that which is 
perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. 
By the close of A. D. 100 the perfect thing — the law, unity 
of the faith, etc. — had come.^^ 



4«I, Cor., 13:8-10. 



Growth of the Church and New Testament. 



Jesus' Ministry, 








A. D. 27-30. 


Church Began. 






A Beginning. 


No Written Law. 






Luke, 3:23; 


Spirit. 


Apostles. 


Officers. 


Acts, 1:1, 










1. Baptisms. 




Qualifications. 




Matt., 3:10-12; 




L Tim., 3:1-12- 




Acts, 1:4, 5; 2:1; 




Tit., 1:6-9; 1 




10:44-48; 11:15- 




Pet., 5-2-4; cf 




17; 15:8, 9. 




Acts 11:30; 14 




2. Impartation. 




23; 20:17-35; Phil. 




Acts, 8:14-21; 




1:1. 




19:6; cf. I. Tim., 








4:14; IL Tim., 








1:6. 








3. Reception. 








John, 7:39; Acts, 








2:38; 5:32; 19-2; 








Rom., 8:15; L 








Cor., 2:12; Gal., 








4:6; 5:16-25. 






Miracles. 


Tongues. 








Acts, 2:1-13; 10:44-48; 11:15-17; 






L Cor., 12:1- ; 14:1- . (See App. 






D. 2.) 







Mark, 16:17-20; Heb., 2:4; 



-James, 5:14-18. 



Supernatural Faith, 

I Matt., 17:20. 
L Cor., 12:8 



jiTCommon Faith. 
I Rom., 10:17; 
9. Eph., 4:5; Tit. 
I 1:3. 



Teaching 
of 
Jesus. 
Matt., 7:28, 29. 



The Faith. 
Acts, 6:7; 13:8; 
14:22; Gal., 1:23; 
6:10; Jude, 3. 



Confirmed. 
L Cor, 2:1- 



Unity of the 

Faith. 
Eph. 4:11-15. 



The Doctrine. 
L Tim., 1:3, 10; 
4:6; 6:3; IL 
Tim., 4:3; Tit., 
1:9; 2:7, 10; 
Heb., 6:1. 



50 

James, 50 

Gal., 50—57. 

I. & II. Thess., 

52—53. 
Mark, 55—60. 
I. & II. Cor., 

5^-57. 
Rom., 56—57. 

Matt., 60. 



Luke, 60. 
10 Books— 10 yrs. 



-60 



New Testament Scriptures 

-70 



70? 

Eph., Phil., 60— 63. 
Col., Phile., 60— 

63. 
Acts, 62—63. 
Jude, 64. 
L Pet., 64-65. 
L Tim., 66— €8. 
Titus, 66—69. 
IL Tim., 68. 
IL Pet., 68. 
Heb., 69. 



12 Books— 10 yrs. 



John, 90. 
I. John, 90. 
IL John, 90. 
IIL John, 90. 
Rev., 95. 



100 



5 Books— 20 yrs. 



'That which is 
perfect has 
come." I. Cor., 
13:8-10. • 



The Early Church 101 

With much regret we confess that our time is passed^ 
so we are unable to reach our goal (331) tonight^ but 
tomorrow evening we will finish this as a prelude to our 
lecture on "The Apostacy." 



APPENDICES TO LECTURE IV. 
App. D. 1. — Chronology. 

Inasmuch as we use many dates through these lectures 
and some do not agree with the dates others have given, 
and as we give some dates with seeming uncertainty, it 
may be well — to forestall unjust criticism or prevent the 
forming of theories on questionable or doubtful dates — to 
express myself on chronology. Holmes says, "If history 
with chronology is dark and confused, chronology without 
history is dry and insipid." For this cause we have tried 
to be approximately correct in our dates. 

As it is "The science which treats of measuring of time 
by regular divisions or periods, and which assigns to events 
or transactions their proper date," a speaker or writer on 
historical themes must consider chronology for himself or 
blindly accept the conclusions of others. 

Originally there were no regular eras or periods by 
which events could be dated — the world was a blank as to 
chronology. After a time men fixed starting points from 
which they counted; and these starting points always 
emphasized some event which those who fixed them held 
as most important. For example, the Olympiad Era was 
reckoned from 776 B. C, when the Olympic games began; 
the Japanese Era from 660 B. C, when the Empire was 
founded by Jimmu, and yet at that time the B. C. or A. D. 
eras were unknown. 



102 The Maple Lectures 

Most of the Eras^ or rather the starting points for the 
Eras, have been fixed retrospectively — i. e., those who fixed 
them lopked back to some important event. In A. D. 525 
Dionysius, a monk of Rome, looked back to what he thought 
was the birth-date of Jesus, and set a point from which 
he reckoned the Christian Era. He made a mistake of at 
least 4 years — did not get back far enough. 

October, 1793, the French in convention fixed Septem- 
ber 22, 1792, as the beginning of the French Republican 
Era. They used it until September, 1805. The Julian 
Period was proposed by Scaliger in 1582 A. D. and reckoned 
from B. C. 4713. The Chinese Era began B. C. 2697. 
The Mohammedan Era began July 16, 622 A. D., and the 
Galalaen Era July 16, 632, on the accession of Yezdegrid, 
last Sassanian king of Persia. (This Era is still used in 
Persia and India.) 

The Christian or civilized world has been governed, for 
the most part, by three Eras— the A. D. (Anno Domini), 
to which we have alluded; the A. U. C. (Building of Rome), 
and began 753 B. C. ; and A. M. (Anno Mundi == year of 
the world). Under this scheme are four Eras: the 
Antioch, starting with 5490 B. C. as the date of creation; 
Alexandria, dating it at 5500 B. C, and the Constantinople, 
beginning with 5508. (This was adopted in the seventh 
century A. D. and is used by the Eastern Church.) The 
Jewish Era dates from 3760 and 3 mo. B. C, and has been 
used by Jews since the fifteenth century A. D. 

All these different methods make the problem of revert- 
ing to events prior to A. D. 525 and dating them correctly 
most difficult, as the following diagram indicates: 



The Early Church 103 

1. A. M. — Mundane Eras: 
Creation 

B.C. 

5508 — Constantinople. Adopted in the 7th Cen. A. D. Used 

by Eastern Church. 
5500 — Alexandria. 
5490— Antioch. 

3760 — 3 mo. Jewish. Used by Jews since 15th Cen. 

2. A. U. C. — Year of the Founding of Rome: 

Botsford, the historian^ says the myth of the founding 
of Rome by Romulus is fiction. He questions the tradi- 
tional dates (753 B. C), and says the city began far earlier. 
"Evidently Romulus^ whom the Romans worshipped^ was 
not a man^ but a deity." We do know that Varro, a 
Roman scholar and writer (B. C. 116-27.^) determined the 
date 753, which you see was nearly 700 years after Rome 
was founded. 

Some one says, "I go by the Bible/' but remember the 
dates in the margin of your Bible were fixed by Ussher in 
1650 and inserted in 1701. 

The Old Testament genealogies or chronologies come 
to use through three sources: the Hebrew Text, the 
Samaritan Pentateuch, and the Septuagint (LXX). The 
following shows the discrepancies: 





Heb. 


Sam. 


LXX. 


Josephus 


Adam to the Flood — 


1656 


1307 


2242 


2256 


Flood to Abraham — 










Dr. Green 


. 427 


1077 


1307 


1128 


Prof. Willard 


. 290 


940 


1170 





Farrar says, "A host of writers, in all Christian nations, 
have devoted years — some of them have devoted well-nigh 
their whole lives — to the consideration of this and similar 
questions, and have yet failed to come to any agreement 
or to command any general consent." "When one sees no 



104 The Maple Lectures 

two independent harmonists agreeing even in the common 
chronological principles or data (e. g., even as to the num- 
ber of years in Christ's ministry), he will probably feel 
that the order he adopts will carry no conviction to others, 
however plausible it may seem to himself." (Life of Jesus, 
pp. 171, 236.) 

So we wrestle with the chronological problem and give 
the dates that are approximately correct. 



App. D. 2.— Gift of Tongues. 

For years I have diligently sought an explanation that 
really explains the "Gift of Tongues," or the speaking in 
tongues, referred to in the first part of the lecture. The 
preachers, for the most part, explain (?) the Scriptures on 
this subject by denouncing the present-day pretenders to 
so-called speaking in tongues as fanatics, fools or frauds: 
or they give what some commentator, who does not agree 
with other commentators, has written on the subject. 

I want interpretation and explanation — not denunciation 
and condemnation of those who claim to speak in tongues; 
for I am studying the Scriptures now to ascertain the truth, 
not to support, nor refute, any theory. 

I want to know : 

1. Did Jesus promise the gift of tongues in Matt., 
10:19,20; Mark, 13:11; Luke, 12:11,12; and John, 
16: 17.^ 

2. When Jesus foretold that "they shall speak with new 
tongues" (Mark, 16: 17), is it synonymous with the above 
promises, and what did He mean they would really do? 

3. If these promises were fulfilled on Pentecost, then 
a few questions: (a) Did the 120, or the 12, or just Peter, 
speak in tongues? (6) What was the purpose — that the 



The Early Church lOS 

different nations might hear in their own tongues and thus 
spread the truth more quickly? (c) Then why the speak- 
ing in tongues before these foreigners came together? (cf. 
Acts, 2:1-4 and following verses)^ and (d) When Peter 
"lifted up his voice^ and spake forth unto them/' (Acts, 
2: 14) are we absolutely certain that he then spoke in 
tongues — did he always, after the baptism of the Spirit, 
speak in tongues? (The Scriptures — not our suppositions — 
must settle this.) 

4. What was it that actually occurred when they spoke 
in tongues? (a) Did they all speak at one time all the 
languages or dialects spoken by the hearers? (So says 
Alford, "and perhaps more," Matthew Henry and McGar- 
vey say they spoke "languages they had learned"), or 
(b) Did they talk a few minutes in one tongue, then 
change to another, or (c) Did they use their vernacular, 
which was translated by the Spirit into the various 
languages ? 

A brainless yap in Martin's Ferry, Ohio, is spending 
good money printing mis-connected and false interpretations 
of the Scriptures in support of his "gift of tongues" theory. 
I gather from the conglomerated mess this: speaking in 
tongues is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah (28 : 1 1), 
and the promises of Jesus; that the promise in Heb., 4: 1 
refers to the gift of tongues, and that Paul feared that 
some would seem to come short of it. He says when the 
promise was bestowed at Pentecost, "some, no doubt, were 
laughing, some dancing, and some were singing and stam- 
mering, and staggering and speaking in new tongues," etc. 
He says "that was the reason the outsiders thought they 
were drunk." 

I am sure that the arguments (?) and actions of these 



106 The Maple Lectures 

deluded people today do not win thoughtful^ well-poised 
Bible students and lovers of decency to their fanaticisms; 
and that their unholy rolling, voluptuous contortions repel 
all who are modest and moral: but this does not explain the 
Scriptures pertaining to speaking in tongues. Then as 
briefly as possible I want to give my conclusions in the 
absence of anything better, or really anything at all, on 
this much-muddled question. 

1. There was a real, genuine divine speaking in tongues 
emanating from the Holy Spirit (Acts, 2:1 — ; 10:46; 
19:6). 

2. The purpose of this sign, as that of all miracles, 
was to confirm the truth and the Church (Mark, 16: 17-20). 

3. In addition to the genuine "speaking in tongues," 
there grew up a quasi-speaking in tongues, or as Myers 
and Plumptre and others say, "A jubilant, ecstatic praise," 
and perhaps a pretentious imitation of the genuine. 

4. In the Corinthian congregation, where we know 
there were divisions, heresies and corruptions of Christian 
doctrine and practices, was a condition of disorder and 
confusion, caused partly, at least, by their speaking in 
tongues (?) as above indicated. 

5. Paul in his Corinthian epistle, especially the first, 
deals with this condition, and gives the following rules 
and instructions to safeguard the faith and the true disciples. 
(Study carefully and critically the 14th of I Corinthians.) 

Note. — (a) Not more than two or three were to speak 
(in a tongue) during a meeting, and then by turn (14: 27). 
This rule shows that too many had been thus speaking, as 
14:26 indicates, (h) There must be present the gift of 
interpretation of tongues (12:10; 14:5,28). The Pente- 
costal speaking in tongues did not need this, (c) Another 



The Early Church 107 

charism was necessary as a protection or test, viz., the 
discerning of spirits — i. e., of the speakers — (12:10). 
{d) Paul wrote to them thus, "Be not children in mind/' 
"I would not have you ignorant of spiritual gifts/' (yet 
some preachers get around this hard question by saying 
we don't have to know about those things) "since you are 
zealous of spiritual gifts/' "Let all things be done unto 
edifying." (Their speaking in tongues was not edifying; 
see Paul's repeated statements in I. Cor., 14th.) "Let all 
things be done decently and in order," (had they been 
indecent or disorderly?) "God is not the God of confusion 
but of peace." All this shows that the Corinthian congre- 
gation was far from ideal. 

6. 1. Cor., 14:34 shows that even the women as well 
as the men were in their congregational speaking in tongues 
disorderly or immodest. Brother E. M. Zerr says, "I. Cor., 
14: 34 applies to the wives of the men who possessed mirac- 
ulous gifts, whether they were bishops or otherwise. Paul's 
command was based on a special condition and a special 
age." 

7. It is inconceivable that Paul would presume to place 
restrictions or lay down regulations for the Corinthians as 
to their speaking in tongues, had such speaking been 
exclusively of the Pentecostal type. 

8. The 12th, 13th and 14th of Corinthians will anni- 
hilate the modern theory and practice of speaking in 
tongues (?), and the tests and rules in the 14th chapter 
will stop the gibble-gabble of these present-day dupes. I 
imagine that there were some of their near kin in the 
Corinthian congregation whose mouths had to be stopped 
and that was Paul's smooth way of doing it. 

Should the reader feel that the diplomatic dealing by 



108 The Maple Lectures 

the Apostle to the Gentiles, with such purposeful pTetend- 
ers or misguided disciples such as I have intimated, rather 
than harsh treatment, was un-Pauline, I would kindly ask 
you to read the following before comparing Paul with our 
cut-and-slash, heartless, combative preachers. (I. Cor., 
4:14-21; 9:19-23; II. Cor., 1:24; 2:4; 12:15; 13:10; 
cf. I. Thess., 2:5-8.) 



App. D. 3.— Church of Christ. 

The following are the earmarks or elements of the 
Church : 

1. Name. — Matt., 16:18; Acts, 20:28; Rom., 16:16; 
I. Cor., 1:2; 14:33; Col., 1:24; Heb., 12:23; (see App. 
C. 1 for other references). 

2. The Head. — Eph., 1:22; 4:15,16; 5:23; Col., 
1: 18; 2: 19. 

3. The Foundation. — Ps., 118:22; Isa., 28:16; cf. 
Matt., 21:42; Mark, 12: 10, 11; Luke, 20: 17; Acts, 4: 11; 
Eph., 2:19-20; I. Pet., 2:6-8. 

4. Members. — Rom., 12:4,5; I. Cor., 6:15; 12:27; 
Eph., 5:30. 

(a) Disciples — Luke, 19:37; John, 8:31; 13:35; 

15:8; Acts, 9: 1,26; 20:7. 

(b) Brethren— Matt, 12: 46-50; 23: 8-10; 25: 40; Luke, 

22:31,32. 

(c) Saints — Acts, 9:13,32,41; 26:10; Rom., 1:7; 

8:27; 12: 13; 15:25,26,31; 16:2; I. Cor., 1:2; 
Eph., 1:1; Phil., 1:1; Jude, 3. 

(d) Elect of God— Matt., 24:24,31; Mark, 13:20,22, 

27; Luke, 18:7; Rom., 8:33; Col., 3:12; Tit., 
1: 1. 

(e) Priests— Rev., 1:6; 20:6; cf. I. Pet., 2:9. 



The Early Church 109 

(/) Christians (covers all) — Isa., 56 : 5 ; 62 : 1, 2 ; 65 : 15 ; 
Acts, 11:26; 26:28; I. Pet., 4:16; cf, James, 
2:7. 

5. Officers — (a) Bishops, elders, pastors, shepherds, 
overseers (Acts, 11:30; 14:23; 20:17-35; Phil., 1:1; 
I. Tim., 3:2-7; Tit., 1:6,7; I. Pet., 5:2-4). (6) Deacons 
(Phil., 1:1; I. Tim., 3:8-10. From Rom., 16:1 and 
I. Tim., 3:11, A. Campbell indicated that females were 
constituted deaconesses in the primitive Church). 

6. Worship — (a) Prayers, private and public. (Acts, 
2:42; 6:4; Rom., 15:30; I. Cor., 7:5; II. Cor., 1:11; 
Eph., 6: 18; Phil., 1:9; 4:6; I. Tim., 2: 1; Rev., 8:3,4). 

(b) Communion (Matt., 26:26-28; Luke, 22:14-20; cf. 
Mark, 14:22-24; Acts, 20:7; I. Cor., 10:16; 11:17-34). 

(c) Fellowship (the original term for fellowship is trans- 
lated contribution in Rom., 15:26; II. Cor., 9:13). (I 
Cor., 16: 1,2; II. Cor., 8:9; 9:7, 14; Phil., 4: 14-16, etc.) 

(d) Music (John, 4:23,24; I. Cor., 14:15; Eph., 5:19 
Col., 3: 16 — ). (e) Teaching (Acts, 1 : 1 ; 4: 18 ; 5 : 25, 42 
15:35; 18: 11; 28:31; Rom., 12:7; Gal., 6:6; Col., 1: 28 
I. Tim., 3:2; 4:11; 5:2; II. Tim., 2:2; Tit., 2:4,12 
Heb., 5: 12). 

7. Work— (Acts, 9:36-42; 11:27-30; Gal., 6: 10). 

8. Regular meetings were on the first day of the week — 
called The Lord's Day. (Mark, 16: 2; Acts, 20: 7; I. Cor., 
16:2; Rev., 1: 10; Heb., 10: 19-29). 

App. D. 4. — The Divine Name. 

From the Gospel Advocate we clip this from Brother 
McQuiddy's pen, in answer to a question sent him concern- 
ing Isa., 62: 2: 

As the name by which God's people should be called should 
be a new name when Isaiah wrote, previous to the writing the 



110 The Maple Lectures 



name must not have been given to any of God's people. (1) From 
Isa. 65: 15 we learn that this new name was to be given after the 
death of the Jewish economy, (2) It was to be given after God's 
righteousness had gone to the Gentiles. (Isa. 62:2; Amos 11: 12.) 

(3) It was to be given in the house, or church, of God. (Isa. 66: 5.) 

(4) It was to be a new name. (Isa. 62:2.) (5) The name was to 
be named by the mouth of the Lord. (Isa., 62:2.) The one name 
that meets all these requirements is the name "Christian." It was 
given after the death of the Jewish economy, after God's righteous- 
ness had gone to the Gentiles; it was given in the church; it was 
a new name; and it appears to me, from the meaning of the word 
in the original text, that it was given by divine authority. It is 
certain, however, that the Holy Spirit and the Father approved 
the name "Christian." Adam Clarke says, in commenting on 
Isa., 62:2: "T^ow shalt be called by a new name — namely, Chris- 
tian." In his comment on Acts, 11:26, "And the disciples were 
called Christians first at Antioch," he says: "It is evident they 
had the name 'Christian' from Christ, their Master, as the Pla- 
tonists and Pythagoreans had their names from their masters, 
Plato and Pythagoras. Now, as these had their names from those 
great masters because they attended their teaching and credited 
their doctrines, so the disciples were called 'Christians' because 
they took Christ for their teacher, credited His doctrines, and 
followed the rule of life laid down by Him. It has been a question, 
by whom was this name given to the disciples? Some think they 
assumed it; others, that the inhabitants of Antioch gave it to 
them; and others, that it was given by Saul and Barnabas. This 
latter opinion is favored bj^ the Godex Begae, which reads the 
twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth verses thus: 'And hearing that Saul 
was at Tarsus, he departed, seeking for him; and haVing found 
him besought him to come to Antioch; who when they were 
come assembled with the church a whole year and instructed a 
great number; and there they first called the disciples at Antioch 
Christians.' The word "chrematisai' in our common text, which 
we translate were called, signifies in the New Testament, to 
appoint, warn, or nominate by divine direction." This new name, 
"Christian," is an honorable name, is broad enough to include all 
God's family, both in heaven and in earth, and a name in which 
all can glorify God. 

"Chrematisai" = "to impart a divine warning or ad- 
monition; give instructions under the guidance of inspira- 
tion." — Standard Lexicons. 

Occurs in the following (in some form): Matt.^ 2: 12, 
"warned o£ God;" 2:22, "warned of God;" Luke, 2:26, 



The Early Church 111 

"revealed unto him;" Acts, 10: 22, "warned of God;" Rom., 
7: 3, "called;" Heb., 8: 5, "warned of God," 11:7; "warned 
of God;" 12:25, "warnetli from heaven;" Acts, 11:26, 
"were called." It alwaj^s carries with it the idea of a 
divine calling or warning, etc. 

With this view of the giving of that name we can read 
more understandingly the following Scriptures: Matt., 
10:22; 19:29; Luke, 21: 12; John, 15:20,21; Acts, 9: 16; 
Eph., 3: 14, 15; James, 2:6,7; Rev., 2:3, 13. 

The following human testimony is in place here and 
fitting : 

George WhitefieJd — "Would that all the names of the saints of 
God were swallowed up in that one name, 'Christian !' " 

Martin Luther — "I beseech you above all things not to use 
my name; not to call yourselves Lutherans, but Christians." 

John Wesley — "Would that all party names and unscriptural 
phrases and forms which have divided the Christian world were 
forgotten and M'e as humble, loving disciples might sit down at 
the Master's feet and read His holy word, imbibe His spirit and 
transcribe His life into ours." 

Adam Clarke — "Prince among commentators." "A Christian, 
therefore, is the highest character which any human being can 
bear on earth, and to receive it from God, as those appear to have 
done, how glorious the title ! How few of those who profess this 
religion are satisfied with this title. It is a title seldom heard of. 
When all return to the spirit of the gospel they will probably 
resume the appellation of Christian." 

Albert Barnes — Great among the Presbyterians was Albert 
Barnes. Commenting on Acts, 11:26, he has this to say: "The 
name was evidently given because they were followers of Christ. 
That it was given in derision is not probable. It was readily 
assumed by the apostles. It is the most honored name that can 
be conferred on a mortal. It is not that we belong to this or that 
denomination that that honor is conferred. It is that they arc 
Christians, that is their peculiar name. This binds them all 
together, a name which arises above all other names. It is a 
bond to unite in one family all those who love the Lord Jesus." 

Richard Baxter, the Episcopalian, said: "I am a Christian, a 
mere Christian, of no other religion. My church is the Christian 
Church." 

Joseph Parker, the foremost preacher in New England today. 



112 The Maple Lectures 



utters these significant words: "By Christians I understand 
Christ followers, Christ lovers, Christ worshipers, Christ ones. 
Were we what we ought to be in integrity, in simplicity and in 
equity of soul, there should be no nobler designation known 
among men and no other should be needed. The one name that 
we ought to have is Christian, meaning by that a man who takes 
Jesus Christ as his Lord Savior, Priest, Pattern, Inspiration." 

Henry Ward Beecher — "Christian brethren, in heaven you are 
known by the name of Christ. On earth, for convenience sake 
you are known by the name of Presbyterians, Episcopalians, 
Methodists, Congrgationalists and the like. Let me speak in the 
language of heaven and call you simply Christians. Whoever of 
you has known the name of Christ and feels Christ's life beating 
within him is invited to remain and sit with us at the table of 
the Lord." 



App. D. 5. — Nero — Burrus — Seneca. 

Prof. Botsford^ Columbia University, in his "History 
of the Ancient World/' pp. 466-4!68, writes: "As the new 
prince was only seventen years of age, and showed more 
taste for dancing and music than for official work, the 
government for the first ten years of his administration was 
in the hands of Seneca, his tutor, and Burrus, pretorian 
prefect. Both were able men. 

"A Spaniard by birth, Seneca was a philosopher of the 
Stoic school, which taught that virtue alone is sufficient for 
happiness, and that a man should rise above all passion and 
follow his reason. Man, it asserted, is lord of his own life, 
and may end it when he thinks fit. This severe, practical 
philosophy suited well the character of the Romans. From 
the later republic to the adoption of Christianity many 
found in it a guide to self-discipline. Although Seneca 
lacked moral firmness, his intentions were good. Under him 
and Burrus the provinces were well governed; and a law 
of theirs permitted ill-treated slaves throughout the empire 
to bring their complaints before the magistrates. This 



The Early Church 113 

provision marks a great advance in the improvement of 
mankind. 

Burrus died in 62 A. D.^ and as Nero began to take the 
government into his own hands, Seneca retired to private 
life. Accused of sharing in a conspiracy, he killed himself 
by order of the prince. 

"The worst blot on Nero's principate was the persecu- 
tion of the Christians on the groundless suspicion that they 
had caused the burning of Rome. Many were condemned. 
'Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered 
with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and 
perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to 
flames and burned to serve as a nightly illumination' of the 
prince's gardens. The Romans, who as yet knew little of 
the Christians, considered them a sect of Jews, and de- 
spised them because they then belonged to the lowest class 
of society. Nero's persecution, however, was only a sudden 
outburst of ferocity which did not extend beyond the city." 



THE APOSTASY. 
(Lecture V.) 

"The day of the Lord will not be, except the falling away 
come first, and the man of sin be revealed." "But the Spirit saith 
expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, 
giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons." — Paul. 

"Not a truth has to art or science been given, 
But brows have ached for it, and souls toiled and striven/' 

— O. Meredith. 



In our lecture last evening on The Early Church we 
studied the Christianity of the first century, and saw how 
the problems, intertwined with the history and missionary 
work of the Church, were eventually solved. We learned 
that that was the confirmation period of the Church; when 
the doctrine was formulated, the government, worship and 
work of the Church evolved, and the New Testament Scrip- 
tures written.^ 

"That which is perfect" came during this period — not 
perfect people, for those we do not have; not a perfect 
Church, for it is still future; but "an elect race, a royal 
priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own posses- 
sion," who had come to "the unity of the faith and the 
knowledge of the Son of God;" with the new law written 
for the guidance and edification of the Church.^ 

The lack of time prevented our finishing the lecture last 
evening, and reaching A. D. 331 as we expected. So as a 
prelude to this lecture, we note some things which immedi- 
ately followed the first century. Persecutions of the Chris- 



1 App. E. 1. 
2Eph., 5:25-27. 



116 The Maple Lectures 

tians by both Jews and Pagans, of course, continued rife. 
The record of all these would fill volumes, and for me to 
relate only a few would take more than the present hour. 

Writings of the Fathers. 

As there were prominent persons ("stars" in the Apoca- 
lyptic language) in the first century, so we have many in 
the second century. Just as many in the first century took 
in hand to draw up narratives of the matters concerning 
Jesus and His Apostles and the early Church, it seemed 
good or imperative to those of the second, third and fourth 
centuries to contribute their part to the Christian literature 
of the time. This and later literature is known as the 
writings of the Fathers. The "Apostolic Fathers" is the 
written contribution of those who were pupils of the 
Apostles, or pupils of those who had learned directly from 
the Apostles; the "Antenicene Fathers" were those who 
wrote between A. D. 155 and 325, the date of the Council 
of Nice. Of the large number we mention only a few. 

First is Polycarp, a pupil of the Apostle John. Marcus 
Aurelius, on becoming Emperor, ordered a general perse- 
cution of the Christians. Polycarp was at Smyrna when 
informed that the officers were coming to arrest him, but 
rejected the advice and plans of his friends to make escape. 
When the soldiers came he set refreshments before them, 
and then asked leave to have a quiet hour of prayer, after 
which he expressed himself as ready to go. On the way 
the soldiers, who were touched by his kindness and fear- 
lessness and wanted to save his life, urged him to sacrifice 
to the gods, or say "Lord Caesar," and thus save his life; 
but he finally replied, "I will not follow your advice." And 
while the soldiers were preparing the stake at which he 



The Apostasy 117 

was to be burned to death^ the proconsul said, 'Swear by 
the fortunes of Caesar; curse Christ, and I will set thee 
free." But Polycarp calmly replied, "Eighty and six years 
have I served Christ; how, then, can I curse him, my King 
and my Saviour?" The fire was kindled and he gave his 
life for Jesus. 

Justin Martyr was a Pagan philosopher at the begin- 
ning of the second century. His father educated him in 
the Pagan religion. One day as Justin wandered along the 
seashore he met a mild and venerable man, who referred 
him to the Jewish prophets and through them to the great 
Christian teacher. This resulted in his conversion to 
Christianity, and, with his philosophical writings and in- 
structions he strove to bring others to the truth. He was 
beheaded about the year 165 because he refused to sacrifice 
to the gods. 

Ignatius, who was martyred early in the second century, 
shows by his writings a familiarity with the gospel records 
and the doctrine and practice of the early Church. "The 
central idea of his Epistles," so Benham concludes, "is the 
One Faith, and, with him, the communion is the center of 
Christian worship." 
Infant Baptism Introduced. 

Irenaeus, who lived 115-202, was a distinguished writer. 
His chief work was "Against Heresies." He saw the 
Church deeply affected by heresies and he wrote to refute 
them. Neander, "the greatest of church historians," and 
a Pedobaptist, who died in 1850, quotes from Irenaeus, 
where he refers to infant baptism, and affirms that "Irenaeus 
is the f.rst church teacher in whom we find any allusion to 
infant baptism. We have all reason for not deriving infant 
baptism from Apostolic institution; and the recognition of 



lis The Maple Lectures 

it which followed somewhat later, as an Apostolic tradition, 
serves to confirm this hypothesis." 

Inasmuch as Irenaeus, who wrote about 190/ was the 
first to allude to infant baptism, and Neander says it cannot 
be^ derived from Apostolic institution and was recognized 
somewhat later, I feel safe in dating the introduction of 
infant baptism into the Church at about A. D. 175 to 190. 
One thing is certain, it was not a practice of the early 
Church- — that is, from A. D. 30 to 100. Please keep in 
mind that I am not, at this time, arguing for or against 
infant baptism, but simply giving historical facts — that 
is all. 

Tertullian was a voluminous writer— the first of the 
Fathers who wrote in Latin. He, too, was a proselyte 
from Paganism, and from the manner of his writing seems 
to have studied law. Of his four books one is "On Bap- 
tism," in which he emphasizes the necessity of baptism 
and refutes the faith only theory. "He appears," to quote 
Neiander^ "as a zealous opponent of infant baptism ; a proof 
that the practice had not as yet come to be regarded as an 
Apostolical institution ; for otherwise, he would hardly have 
ventured to express himself so strongly against it." 

According to both Neander and Dr. Wall, Tertullian 
made a great argument for the baptism of those only who 
ai?e "grown up," when they are instructed and understand. 
Remember, too, that he immediately followed Irenaeus, 
who first mentioned infant baptism. 

Origen, who lived from A. D. 185 to 254, attempted near 
the close of his life to defend infant ba:ptism upon the 
ground that infants are sinners by nature, "that it is because 
the pollution of our birth is taken away in baptism that 
Infants are baptized. For this also it was that the Church 



The Apostasy 119 

had from the Apostles a tradition (or order) to give bap- 
tism even to infants. For they, to whom the divine mys- 
teries are committed, knew that there is in all persons the 
natural pollution of sin which must be done away by water 
and the Spirit."^ When Origen was seventeen years of age 
his father died a martyr's death, and Origen would gladly 
have shared it of his own free will had not his mother, left 
unsupported with six children, prevented him. In after 
years some in the Church charged him with denying eternal 
punishment, and excommunicated him. When Decius 
ascended the throne, Origen was seized, imprisoned and 
tortured for his faith. He did not survive his sufferings 
long, but died in 254. 

Brethren, when I read of how the early Christians were 
tortured for the faith, we should be ashamed to complain 
of the little we suffer for the Cause — really we do not suffer 
when compared with what they endured. And when we 
think of the blood shed, the prisons and the deaths more 
excruciating than a thousand of ours, that the faith and the 
Bible and the Christ may bless us, we should thank our God 
for His loving kindness and tender mercies, and pledge to 
Him a better life than we have given in the past. 

Origin of Sprinkling. 

Coming to 251, as you see on our chart, we find this 
the date when sprinkling was first introduced for baptism. 
According to Wall, Moshiem and others, one Novation took 
sick and was "merely sprinkled and not wholly immersed 
in water in the ancient method/' When Bishop Fabian 
undertook to ordain this Novatian Bishop, Cornelius wrote 
Fabian, opposing the ordination upon the ground that "it 



3 Wall's History, Vol. 1, p. 106. 



120. The Maple Lectures 

wais not lawful for anyone thus baptized to be admitted 
to £iny office of the clergy;" and Mosheim said, "It was 
altogether irregular and contrary to ecclesiastical rules." 

From this there grew up in the Church clinic baptism — 
that is, sprinkling water on one who was thought too sick 
to be immersed. Cyprian, who at that time endeavored "to 
reform abuses within the diocese," calls such baptism ( ?) 
"an outward abridgment of the divine thing." 

And, friends, it is really surprising how many since 251 
have gotten sick over baptism, and audaciously abridged 
*Hhe divine thing." 

I was at a political meeting in Arkansas some time ago, 
when a legislator, seeking re-election, made a speech. Re- 
ferring to a law not favorable to the farmers (his audience 
was largely farmers), he said, "Had I been there I would 
have voted against it, but I was not present; I was sich." 
They laughed him down, because it is known that some of 
our officers lie down on the job — fail to line up any place— 
and give the excuse, "I was sich." It reminds us of Nova- 
tion and 251. 

Constantine Concedes Christianity. 

In 303 Emperor Diocletian instigated a most torturing 
persecution against the Christians, in which the Christians 
were removed from office and their places of worship and 
books destroyed. This lasted for ten years, and Gibbon 
estimates that two thousand were martyred. 

Emperor Constantine was a strange compound of 
Paganism and Christianity. Fearing that in the persecu- 
tions his mother, Helena, who was a Christian, might suffer, 
or as a matter of expediency, he embraced Christianity in 
a half-hearted way, but was not baptized until later. In 



The Apostasy 121 

311 he stopped the persecutions of the Christians and per- 
mitted them to worship as they pleased ; thus giving them 
equal religious privilege with the Pagans. 

From Eusebius we get this story: Constantine was 
before his army at Melvian Bridge in 312^ when there 
appeared in the sky at noonday a flaming cross with the 
slogan^ "By this sign conquer/' and from that time the 
cross supplanted^ or was mingled with, the Roman eagles 
on their military paraphernalia. The Romans repulsed 
the enemy, and Constantine was Pagan, or civilized or 
Christianized enough to believe that the "Prince of Peace" 
was the God of war and had given him the victory. The 
final result was that in 324 Constantine made Christianity 
the state religion, thereby giving Paganism a secondary 
place. 

Council of Nice. 

In 325 Constantine, as Emperor and also the head 
of the newly created, complex, religio-political system, 
called the Council of Nice, which was attended by three 
hundred and eighteen Bishops. This Council drew up the 
first human creed for the Church — the mother of all creeds 
since. 

The Edict of Catholicity, making Christianity the uni- 
versal religion of the Empire, was signed by Constantine 
in 331. This was the consummating cause of the Paganistic 
apostasy, the subject of our lecture tonight. 

Apostacy Foretold, Historically Fulfilled. 

It was foretold that wolves shall enter in, false teachers 
shall arise with false doctrines to draw away the disciples 
after them; that they will not endure sound doctrine, but 



122 The Maple Lectures 

will turn away from the truth and be turned to fables; 
that the apostacy^ or falling away from the truth, precedes 
the day of the Lord, and that the man of sin will be re- 
vealed.* 

In the fulfillment of these prophecies we find history of 
great value. And here I emphasize the need of a general 
knowledge of history. History makes the past real — con- 
nects the present with the past by bridging over that which, 
to those ignorant of history, is an impassable chasm. A 
preacher on hearing this lecture once, discounted it by 
saying, "It was nothing but the history others had written," 
which I took as a compliment rather than a criticism. 

When Constantine attempted to universalize Christian- 
ity he had fifty copies of the Bible made in Greek under 
the supervision of Eusebius, and distributed over the 
Empire. Dr. Tischendorf believed that the Vatican MS., 
of which the Roman Catholic Church is custodian, and the 
Sinaitic MS., rescued from some monks on Mt. Sinai in 
1859, and since in the care of the Greek Catholic Church 
at St. Petersburg, are two of these fifty copies.^ 

This edict of the pagan power, which nationalized 
Christianity, also paganized it, notwithstanding the dis- 
tribution of these fifty copies of the Scriptures. 

The pagans were prohibited from worshipping their 
gods as of old, and commanded to worship Christ; so their 
temples were torn down or turned into meeting places for 
the Christians. Many were patriotic enough to do what 
the government directed, and ask no questions — the new 
god which the government made the object of worship was, 
in their estimation, as good for them as any. 



4 Acts, 20:29,30; II. Thess., 2:1-12; I. Tim., 4:1-3; II. Tim., 4:3,4. 
s "All About the Bible," p. 28. 



The Apostasy 123 

Thus when the flood-gates were opened these pagans, 
like those Jews who came into the early Church and clung 
to their old religious ideas, to the disturbance of congre- 
gations, brought with them paganistic doctrines and prac- 
tices. Christianity became indoctrinated with paganism; 
and the corrupt seed had been sown which brought as the 
harvest a corrupt Church and the Dark Ages.^ Eusebius 
says of Constantine, "This Emperor, to make the Christian 
religion more plausible to the Gentiles, adopted the ex- 
terior ornaments which they used in their worship." 

Christianity Courts Paganism. 

A purgatory and praying for the dead were practices 
among the pagans prior to the days of Constantine; and 
some adherents quote from II. Maccabees, or when Jesus 
said of the sin against the Holy Spirit, "It shall not be 
forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to 
come." It must be remembered that world here, as in 
many places, means ageJ' 

Again, a long while before a Roman Catholic priest 
swung a censor and burned incense the pagans did the 
same and they borrowed it from the Greeks, who in turn 
imported the custom from Egypt. James Freeman Clark 
shows conclusively "that many of the Roman Catholic 
customs, practices and doctrines came from paganism.^ 

I read from Benham's Dictionary of Religions, "But 



^ The Christian Church of which the writer was a "pastor" for tvvei>ty 
years can trace its dig:ression from the truth and the plea to the f?reat 
influx from the denominations. They gloried in baptizing those of other 
faiths more than in saving a soul from sin, hut such brought their denomi- 
national Idea and finally denominationalized the Christian Church. 

'Where Marg. Tran. has "age" for "world." Matt., 12:32; 1:5:22,39, 
40,49; 24:3; 28:20; Rom., 12:2; I. Cor., 1:20; 2:(), 7, 8; 3:18; IT. Cor., 
4:4; Gal,, 1:4; Eph., 1:21; cf. I. Cor., 10:11; Eph., 2:7; 3:5,21; Col., 
1:26. 

* Ten Great Religions, p. 253. 



124 The Maple Lectures 

meanwhile Paganism had left its mark on Christianity. 
The Church had felt obliged to make concessions to the 
pagans, to mitigate their opposition and facilitate their 
conversion." That's the trouble nowadays; concessions 
are made to mitigate opposition and to facilitate conver- 
sions, regardless of what the Book says ; and if one doesn't 
make concessions they call him "anti" and "an old fogy." 

"Hence, minor observances of Paganism were adopted 
as a part of Christian ritual. The commemoration of 
Saints is admitted by Jerome and Augustine to be derived 
from pagan custom, and they justify the practice as one 
which the universal conscience of mankind approves." 

"Neander traces the worship of the virgin to that of 
Ceres. The casting of earth upon the dead, which we 
retain in our 'Burial Services,' is derived from Paganism." 
(And yet some "pastors" who pretend to speak where the 
Bible speaks, say at an interment, "Earth to earth, ashes to 
ashes — " just like the pagans used to.) 

"The hanging of votive offerings in Roman Catholic 
Churches is like what was practiced in the days of Horace. 
New Year's gifts and rejoicings, the use of bride's cake, 
the popular observances of Valentine's Day, are all of pagan 
origin."^ (And I'll venture that when the 27th of March 
comes again some of you who know the origin of Valentine's 
Day will send out the valentines galore.) (Reporter's 
note: Many in the audience appeared amused; one lady 
whispered to another that the lecturer had the date wrong. 
Finally an elder or preacher spoke up: "Brother Maple, 
pardon me, but — but — you have the date wrong." The 
lecturer (seriously): "Date wrong? What date.''" "You 
said Valentine's Day was the 27th of March — it's February 



See App. E. 2. See under (f) especially. 



The Apostasy 125 

14th." "Yes, I was wrong; but purposely, to find out if 
my Christian audience is posted in paganism. I see some 
of you are up-to-date.") 

Let me read more from Benham: "And every day of 
our lives we have the names of the gods of our fathers on 
our lips, for after them we call the days of the week." 
Sunday was the day when they worshipped the sun; 
Monday, when they worshipped the moon. Tuesday comes 
from the root "Tiw," the god of war. Tiwday was the 
day the pagans worshipped Mars as the god of war. The 
word Wednesday, originally Woden's day, comes from 
"Woden," the highest god of the Teutonic peoples, but 
identified with the Roman god. Mercury. So in spite of 
all our patriotism and anti-German proclivities we are com- 
pelled to be a little Teutonic, in name at least, on Wednes- 
day. Thursday is from Thor, the god of thunder, the same 
as the Germanic Donar. Friday is from the German "fria," 
meaning friend, beloved or loving, and the name of the 
goddess of marriage. Seems that the Food Administration, 
or some other creation — Roosevelt, or something else — 
would re-name these three days, at least, and smash that 
much of pro-Germanism or "Kultur" to smithereens. Sat- 
urday is traceable to Saturn — a god that was worshipped 
in Rome as early as 500 B. C. 

And even the names of our months came from pagan 
Rome, and carry with them the stain of polytheism and 
emperor-worship. ^° Surely, if our young people knew 
these things they would not be sticklers for June weddings ; 
and another thing — that beau-tee-ful ring ceremony would 
be relegated to the dark and dismal pagan past from whence 
it came. 



" App. E. 2. Facts as to Sat., months — Festival Days. 



126 The Maple Lectures 

Introduced, Practiced, Authorized. 

Image worship and use of holy water^ previously prac- 
ticed by pagans, was introduced into the Church, and in 
later years, as we shall see, made a part of Christian (?) 
doctrine. On this point I read from J. V. Combs : "In the 
second century many corrupt practices began to creep into 
the Church. Greek, Roman and barbarian alike came into 
the Church. Like the Jews, they desired to cling to their 
former customs, feasts and modes of worship. They 
changed their names to that of Christian, but continued 
their modes of worship. By the time we pass out of the 
third century and come to the age of Constantine, we find 
the Church loaded down with heathen practices, among 
which were found baptismal regeneration, infant baptism, 
image worship, sprinkling water upon new-born babes, and 
sprinkling water upon persons to cleanse them from sin 
and to drive away evil spirits. 

"Constantine, in a way, accepted Christianity, and all 
who obtained his favors must become Christians. The 
Church was thus filled with baptized but unconverted 
people. They became Christian in name, but remained 
pagan in modes of worship. 

"The pagan nations believed in baptismal regeneration, 
and that water would cleanse from sin. Faith had nothing 
to do with it. It was mere water salvation. They could 
therefore apply it to infants as well as to adults. 

"The same foolish doctrine found its way from heathen- 
ism into the Church, and we hear of total depravity and 
washing away the hereditary sins. The transition from 
pagan water worship to infant baptism was quite easy 
when heathen customs were practiced in the Church. At 



The Apostasy 127 

the end of the third century we find all these customs in 
the Churchy and especially in the Catholic Church."^^ 

Syncretism and the Result. 

Cardinal Baronius justifies their admittedly pagan 
practice thus: "The Church permitted the pious use of 
ceremonies which the pagans had applied in superstitious 
service^ but were changed to praiseworthy festivals." 

Thus the Church of that age was characterized by 
syncretism and a thirst for compromise. Max Muller says 
of the first three centuries: "It was an age when Babylon, 
India, Egypt and Greece were sitting and gossiping like 
old women, chattering with toothless gums and silly brains 
about the dreams and joys of their youth." 

John F. Rowe says, in "Reformatory Movements," "The 
feast days. Good Friday and Easter (Oester, the name of 
a German god), are both of pagan origin;" and Pusey sup- 
ports the statement. Christmas, too, finds its basis in pagan 
custom.^^ 

Brethren, in face of the facts concerning all these feast 
days, I am glad that we have one day — one gladsome day — 
which is not traceable to the pagans ; that heathen people 
and priests were ignorant of — this one grand day with its 
annual foreshadowings. Friends, I refer to Ground-hog 
Day. (Laughter.) 

The Religio-Political System. 

Not only were pagan customs, doctrines and practices 
introduced into the Church, but the political arrangement 
of the Roman Empire became the pattern for an ecclesias- 
tical system out of which other ecclesiasticisms have grown. 



^1 Campaigning for Christ, pp. 141-2. 
" App. E. 2. (For exact quotations.) 



128 The Maple Lectures 

The whole duty of man^ with the humblest and greatest 
of Romans^ was to keep his house in order and to be the 
obedient servant of the state. This meant that he must 
worship as the Church and state dictated^ and "keeping 
his house in order" made him the dictator over all in his 
house to the end that they, too, worship accordingly. The 
man in those days was the "boss" — the "papa/' for papa is 
the Latin for "pope" — and was the pope of the household. 
Yet some mothers teach their children to call him "papa/' 
but object when he exercises the power thereof. 

While each in the household must look up to this "pope/' 
above him was the tetrarch, and above the tetrarch were 
the ethnarch, the procurator and proconsul; and all were 
subject to Caesar. Such was the type, and the papal 
system is the ante-type. 

The priest in a parish is called "father/' and the com- 
municants are subject to him, who is under the Bishop. 
Above the Bishops are the Archbishops,. who are under the 
Patriarchs ; and the Cardinals, who are above the Patriarchs, 
are subject to the Pope. So you see it is as it was in pagan 
Rome, a systematic extension of control, from the highest 
to the lowest, with an allegiance from the lowest to the 
highest. 

Union of Church and State Caused Inquisitions. 

The Church and state being united, both the political 
and religious powers were used to extend Christianity. It 
was even set forth as the Scriptural method. They refer 
to Luke, 22:35-38, where Jesus commanded His disciples 
to provide themselves with a sword; "And they said. Lord, 
behold, here are two swords, and he said unto them. It 
is enough." These two swords, they argued, represented 



The Apostasy ^ 129 

the religious and political powers^ and they were used to 
compel the world to Christ. 

In the Spanish Inquisition^ covering a period of 
eighteen years^ ten thousand were burned alive, and ninety- 
seven thousand imprisoned. The instigators of the inquisi- 
tions argued two ways: first, from Matt., 10:34, that Jesus 
came not to send peace, but a sword; in other words, that 
peace is not the purpose of Christianity. Some Christians, 
at times, revert to that old argument and act accordingly. 
Others said, "It was the political power — the state — that 
did the persecuting, not the Church." Yes, but listen; the 
Church compelled the state — the Spanish officers — to the 
inquisitions, and such will be repeated in this and other 
countries should the state allow the Church to dictate. 
True, it was the Romans that crucified Jesus, but the Jews 
were the instigators.^^ The Church cannot deny she perse- 
cuted for about 1,260 years. 

You see on the chart 451 as the date when the Council 
of Chalcedon convened. This council attempted to settle 
the controversy respecting the nature of Jesus ; if there 
were two distinct natures ; was He always divine ; or was 
His divinity a growth, or a gift during His life? Councils 
cannot settle such questions, but truth will. It is significant 
that this council declared Constantinople equal with Rome. 

In 526 Extreme Unction was introduced into the Church. 
This consisted in the anointing of the sick or dying with 
olive oil, which had been consecrated by priests. In the 
Roman Church one Bishop consecrated and one performed 
the rite; but in the Greek Church it took seven priests to 
consecrate the oil of the same grade — and that was before 



13 Matt., 20:19; cf. Matt. 10:21; Mark, 8:31. Read John, 18th and 
I'Jth chaps., cf. Synoptics. 



130 The Maple Lectures 

John D. got in the game^ too. I presume the Greeks had 
more priests than the Romans^ and they wanted to give 
them something worth while to do. Anyway, John F. Rowe 
says of this custom, "It is evident that this pretended 
sacrament is derived chiefly from paganism, as are many 
other rites and dogmas now recognized and legalized, not 
only by the Papal Church, but also in Protestant Churches." 

First Pope, Boniface III., 606. 

We consider now the coming of the first Pope. While 
we read in history that prior to 586 there were men who 
called themselves Popes, and the Catholic Church, to Sup- 
port their theory, furnishes a list clear back (?) to Peter, 
yet we read in these same histories of the "growth of the 
papacy." The fact is: since the Roman government be- 
came the pattern of the ecclesiastical system, there grew 
up a feeling that some one should be the ante-type of 
which the Emperor, as sole ruler, was the type. 

As to Peter being the first Pope, let us see. I read 
Matt., 29 : 25, 26 — from the Rhemish Testament, a Catholic 
translation — "But Jesus called them to him and said, 'You 
know that the princes of the Gentiles lord it over them; 
and they, that are the greater, exercise power upon them. 
It shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be greater 
among you, let him be your servant; and he that will be 
first among you, shall be your servant.' " Does this sound 
like Jesus intended that one — Peter, for instance — would 
be sole ruler? 

Again in Matt., 23 : 8, 9, Jesus said to the disciples, 
"But be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your teacher, and 
all ye are brethren. And call no man your father on the 
earth; for one is your Father, even he who is in heaven." 



The Apostasy 131 

Call no man your father (or "papa/' Latin for Pope) ; and 
the Rhemish Testament says this means in a religious 
sense^ which knocks the papal theory into a cocked hat. 

Let me give you a few more facts that Peter was not 
a Pope — ^at Rome or any other place. (1) We read in 
Matt.^ 8:14 that Peter's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, 
which I take as some evidence that Peter was a married 
man; and Paul wrote, "Have we no right to lead about a 
wife that is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and 
the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas ?"^^ If Peter was 
the first Pope, why have not the others followed their pat- 
tern in the matrimonial line.^ (2) Luke, in "Acts," gives 
no proof that Peter was the first Pope, or indeed ever was 
in Rome. Paul wrote to the Roman Christians and saluted 
the principal persons there; but not Peter. Why not? 
And while a prisoner in Rome, Paul wrote six epistles and 
not once does he mention Peter. Why.f* Simply because 
Peter was not the Pope of Rome. (3) In the first five 
general Church Councils, up to 553, there were 1,053 
Bishops, of whom 1,037 were Greeks, leaving only four- 
teen Romans ; which fact argues against a Pope at Rome 
being the universal head by the consent of the Bishops. 
The majority would be against it. 

Dupin, a Catholic historian, records how they got the 
first Pope at Rome. Referring to the Council of Chalcedon 
(in 4'51), he says, "The 28th canon" (or minute) "grants 
to the Church of Constantinople the same privileges with 
Rome." In his "Life of Gregory," Dupin says, "He (Greg- 
ory) did often vigorously oppose the title of 'Universal 
Patriarch, which the patriarchs of Constantinople assumed 
to themselves." 

"I. Cor., 9: 5. 



132 The Maple Lectures 

In Book 4<y Epistle 36^, he writes: "St. Gregory does 
not only oppose this title in the patriarch of Constantinople, 
but maintains also that it can not agree to any other Bishop, 
and that the Bishops of Rome neither ought nor can assume 
it. John, the younger, patriarch of Constantinople, had 
taken upon him this title in a Council held in 586. St. 
Gregory wrote of it also to this patriarch; but this made 
no impression on him, and John would not abandon this 
fine title. St. Gregory addressed himself to Emperor 
Mauritius and exhorted him earnestly to employ his 
authority for redressing this abuse, and force him who 
assumed this fine title to quit it."^^ The Emperor ignored 
Gregory's letters, which made the latter his enemy. 

"In the year 601 the Centurion Phocas rebelled against 
Maurice, slew him and his family atrociously and usurped 
the throne as Emperor of Rome. "Never," says Maim- 
bourg, "was there a more infamous tyrant than this wicked 
man."^^ Gregory was so elated over the death of the 
Emperor that he wrote Phocas, congratulating him on his 
holy deed, and went to Constantinople, where he conse- 
crated Phocas in his Emperorship. 

Gibbon sustains Dupin in his writings, thus: "The 
senate and clergy obeyed his summons and as soon as the 
patriarch was assured of his orthodox belief, he consecrated 
the successful usurper in the Church of St. John the Bap- 
tist. On the third day, amidst the acclamations of a 
thoughtless people, Phocas made his public entry in a 
chariot drawn by four white horses. The revolt of the 
troops was rewarded by a lavish donation, and the new 



^5 Klingman's "Church History," pp. 14-21, contains Gregory's letters. 
Don't fail to rgad them in this connection; they alone are worth the price 
of his book. 

isMcClintock and Strong, p. 1000. 



The Apostasy 133 

sovereign^ after visiting the palace^ beheld from his throne 
the games of the hippodrome. "^^ 

The new Emperor, feeling somewhat under obligation 
to Rome, decreed that he who should follow Gregory in 
the patriarchal chair should be the universal Head or Pope 
of the Church. Boniface III. took Gregory's chair in 606 
and became the first Pope. 

Mohammed's Eclecticism vs. the Corrupt Church. 

I have 622 as the date when Mohammed arose in the 
East. Never was there a more fitting time for the intro- 
duction of a new religion. The Hebrew religion had de- 
generated into a most disgraceful idolatry. Zoroasterism 
was a fire worship and mysticism. Christianity, especially 
in Syria and Egypt, had hidden her face amid a wild car- 
nival of fantastic speculations, idolatries and heresies. All 
three religions were monotheistic and furnished the soil 
and material out of which Mohammed builded a great 
monotheistic movement. 

The Arabs of the desert, whose vigor and traits so 
fittingly qualified them for a great evangelistic work such 
as Mohammed planned to do, stood ready to do the bidding 
of a great leader, and Mohammed was that leader. The 
onslaughts of the false prophet and the rapid growth of 
the cult gave the Church much apprehension. 

You see on the chart, 666. That is not meant as the 
number of the beast, but as the date when instrumental 
music was introduced. In Chamber's Ency., Vol. VII., 
p. 112, we read, "The organ is said to have been introduced 
into church music by Pope Vitalian I., in 666." As to 



" "Decline and Fall of Roman Empire," Vol. 8, p. 269. 



134 The Maple LECtuREi 

whether the early Church used instrumental music, I read 
two extracts, though I could read many: 

"The Christian worship consists in hymns, prayers, 
reading of the Scriptures and a discourse addressed to the 
people, and concluded with a celebration of the Lord's 
Supper." That is from Dr. Mosheim's "Church History," 
Vol. I., p. 120. McGarvey wrote, "If any man who is a 
preacher says the Apostles teach the use of instrumental 
music in the church by enjoining the singing of psalms, he 
is one of those smatterers of Greek who can believe any- 
thing he wishes to believe."^^ 

In 682 the use of holy water flowed into the Church. 
In the Greek Church it was water blessed by priests, but 
in the Roman it was water and salt mixed. (I take a cup 
of hot water the first thing in the morning.) 

The Second Council of Nice met in 786, but not being 
able to agree on many things, especially as to image wor- 
ship, they adjourned to meet the next year to decide the 
matter. Up to 430 image worship was not common, but 
after that date they carried it to the extreme. 

Christians (in name) kneeled before images and prayed 
to them. They kissed them; used them as god-fathers and 
god-mothers in the baptismal services. Candles and in- 
cense were burned before them. Dust was scraped from 
the images and mixed in the bread and wine of the com- 
munion. 

This idolatrous worship filled the Church more and 
more with idolatry and paganism; retarded the conversion 
of the Jews, and meant greater progress for Mohammedan- 
ism. The Council of Nice not only defined image worship. 



18 Christian Standard, 1895, p. 1149. Don Carlos Janes, Buechel, Ky., 
has a compilation tract on "Instrumental Music." Send for same. See 
App. H. 2. 



The Apostasv 13S 

but made it a part of the faith, and Pope Adrian I. sanc- 
tioned the new article. 

In closing this lecture I must read Ex., 20: 4, 5: "Thou 
shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any likeness 
of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth 
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt 
not how down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I, 
Jehovah, thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity 
of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon 
the fourth generation of them that hate me." 



APPENDICES TO LECTURE V. 

App. E. 1. 

The idea that the Church was a gradual growth during 
the first century is quite general, as the following from a 
newspaper indicates. Some of the statements are far from 
the truth. 

As the early Christian Church grew it developed that it 
needed more organization than having The Twelve at its head, 
whereupon seven helpers were selected to assist them, and the 
seven relieved The Twelve of some of the work which the latter 
had been doing. 

The early church, plainly enough, did not begin with a com- 
plete organization, but it organized as it went along. When a 
change was needed the change was made. Evidently the early 
Christians were not worshippers of a particular form of organi- 
zation. 

Jesus Christ left behind Him no directions how to organize, 
nor as to a particular organization to be formed. Apparently 
He intended that His followers should use, throughout all time, 
every form of organization that they found good in actual opera- 
tion. In this view, it would be folly to claim that any one form 
of such organization today is the only true form. If the religion 
of Jesus Christ were confined to merely one form of operation 
the world would be immeasurably poorer than it is. 

There is no objection to Christians taking their choice among 
various forms of church government; but there is righteous objec- 



136 The Maple Lectures 

tion to any Christian putting the form of organization, or of 
government, either ahead of Christianity or in an equal place with 
Christianity. 

Christians should not only be tender-hearted with non- 
Christians, but, what seems harder to practice, should be tender- 
hearted one toward another regardless of formalities. 

From the Apostolic Review we cull this truthful state- 
ment, which is in accord with my statements along this line : 

A. T. S. — Will you tell me when the Church of Christ was 
placed in full running order with all its officers, inspired and 
not inspired? When did Christ order any taken from what He 
established, and does He only at this day and ag;e require elders, 
deacons and evangelists? Will you tell how long the early Church 
of Christ ran, and what history we have outside the Bible, and 
what became of it, and should it be reorganized as Christ first 
had it? 

The Church with its officers, laws, etc., was a growth through 
the Apostolic period as the circumstances demanded. When the 
inspired men of the First Century passed away, that left only 
the elders, deacons and evangelists. The departure of the Apos- 
tolic church from its God-given rules was gradual. The chapter 
on "The Origin of the Clergy" in our book, "The Church of 
Christ," gives some interesting history from Gibbons' "Decline 
and Fall of the Roman Empire," concerning the change in the 
g.overnment of the early Church, and gives in substance the origin 
of the Roman Catholic Church." — D. A. Sommer. 



App. E. 2. 

(a) Saturday, from Saturn, "An ancient god of the seed 
sowing," whose temple in Rome was founded in 497 B. C. In 
217 B. C. the worship of Saturn was conformed to that of the 
Greek Cronus, with whom the Roman god was identified and in 
whose type his images were made. Saturnalia (belong to Saturn.) 
The festival of Saturn, beginning December 17, on which day 
official rites were celebrated. Unofficially it was a sort of car- 
nival, in which masters served their slaves, while a king chosen 
by lot presided over the feast. It was a period of general license, 
in which the passions or vices had riotous indulgences. — Webster's 
International. 

(b) Christmas — The church of Rome had been celebrating 
December 25 in honor of the nativity; and though this custom, 
probably decreed by the Bishop or Pope Julius I. (337-352 A. D.), 
had originally been adopted in furtherance of the shrewd policy 
of *the Church to substitute great Christian festivals for great 
pagan ones, and so to put a festival of the nativity in place of 



The Apostasy 137 



the jolly Saturnalia of Rome, it naturally led to the belief that 
Jesus was born December 25. Dionysus (525 A. D.) certainly 
accepted the Roman tradition, and must have believed that Jesus 
was born just a week before January 1, A. D. 1; to-wit, on 
Saturday, December 25, B. C. 1 — for there is no year zero." — 
Samuel Willard, Professor of Language and History in 111. State 
Nor. Univ., in Popular and Critical Bible Cyclopedia, Vol. 8, 
p. 423. 

(c) Easter — "Constantine did not understand the doctrine and 
attached as much or more importance to uniformity in keeping 
Easter as to unity of faith.. Indeed, he himself at this time be- 
lieved in no doctrine but that of Providence, and spared no terms 
of contempt as to the pettiness of the dispute between Alexander 
and Arius." — Pusey, "Councils of the Church," p. 102. 

"They decreed that throughout the Church the festival of 
Easter should be celebrated on the Sunday after the full moon 
which happens next after March 21. The feast days. Good Friday 
and Easter (Oester, the name of a German god), were both of 
pagan origin." — John F. Rowe's "Reformatory Movements," pp. 
205-6, 273. 

(d) Valentine's Day — The custom may have descended to us 
from the ancient Romans. A Christian clergy, finding it difficult 
or impossible to extirpate this pagan practice, gave it at least a 
religious aspect. But it is far more probable that the custom 
of choosing; valentines is a relic of that nature-religion which 
was undoubtedly the primitive form of religion in Northwest 
Europe, as elsewhere, and it sprung from a recognition of the 
peculiarity of the season of birds choosing their mates. — Inter- 
national Cyclopedia, Vol. 15, p. 49. [Joke on Bro. Moore under 

(e) Months— January is from Janus, a Latin deity of the 
sun and the year. February, from a Roman festival of purifica- 
tion. March from Mars, the pagan god of war. May from Maia, 
a goddess, daughter of Atlas and mother of Mercury by Jupiter. 
June from Junius, a Roman gens. July named after Caius Julius 
Caesar, who was born in this month. August named in honor of 
Augustus Caesar. September from Septem (seven X), the sev- 
enth month of the year. So October, the eighth; November, the 
ninth, and December, the tenth, respectively, of the Roman year. 

(/) Something too good to keep — it's on Brother Ira C. Moore; 
how he sv/allowed that Valentine Day bait, hook and all. 

In reading the MSS., he came to p. 9, where I purposely mis- 
dated Valentine's Day, and this is what he wrote me: 

"Could not verify any of your statements concerning Pagan- 
ism except "Saint Valentine's Day" ! and I looked for a last year's 
almanac I had carried until lately, and failing to find it, I had 
the folks looking high and low and running to the neighbors' for 



138 ^ The Maple LEcru&ES 



one ! But now I must tell you the joke, for you will catch me in 
it anyhow. I was 'cock sure' you had made a mistake in giving 
the date of that day, and went to work and corrected it before 
reading farther ! Ha ! ha ! Then I had to erase and fix as it 
was, for that was the only way to enable me to say, 'There are 
others !' But I saw the lecturer was better posted on Paganism 
than I felt myself to be ! I added a few words at that point, 
which you may mark off if you so desire." 

But he kindly helps us all out by inserting this: "But it 
is not paganism to know — only to observe." 



THE REFORMATION. 
(Lecture VI.) 

"My two witnesses prophesy 1,260 days (years) clothed in 
sackcloth. The beast shall make war with them and overcome 
them and kill them. And their dead bodies lie in the streets of 
the great city. And after the three days and a half, the breath 
of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their 
feet; and great fear fell upon them that beheld them." — John. 



'Night's candles are burnt out and Jocund Day 
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain's top." 

— Shakespeare. 



We have seen in our past lectures the founding of the 
Churchy its growth among the Jews first, then among the 
Gentiles — Greeks and Romans — until it became the state 
religion of the Roman Empire. We saw how corrupting 
customs and doctrines came into Christianity; which led 
to The Apostacy. Here we find the Church in the begin- 
ning of midnight darkness — The Dark Ages — with the 
world but little, if any, better for her existence. 

The bad and false of paganism had been inseparably 
mixed with the good and true of Christianity. The power 
of the state was available to compel acceptance or to per- 
secute those who rejected. Many were waiting and pray- 
ing for wrongs to be righted, and the darkness dispelled; 
and the day dawn and day star to arise in their hearts. 

The Great Divide. 

The first event to break the power of the Church and 
to work either the weal or woe of Christianity was the 
great schism. Dupin informs us that though the Latin and 
Greek Churches had not been in close communion for some 



140 The Maple Lectures 

time^ the breach began by a letter from the Patriarch of 
Constantinople to Pope Leo IX., in which he charged the 
Latins with grave doctrinal errors and practices. Finally, 
after much bitter correspondence, the Pope of Rome sent 
three legates to Constantinople under the pretense of heal- 
ing the oncoming division. 

Secretly they carried a bull of excommunication which 
they were instructed to fulmigate against the Patriarch 
(Michael Cerularius) should he refuse to yield. "After a 
fruitless attempt to bring over the Patriarch by mild 
means, the three legates from Rome entered the Church 
of St. Sophia at noonday, July 16, 1054, and mounting the 
altar, they read aloud the IduII of excommunication and 
departed for Rome." 

Accordingly, the Roman Catholics affirm that they ex- 
communicated the Greeks.^ Another story is to the effect 
that the Patriarch of Constantinople anathematized Leo and 
his party. The Greeks, therefore, claimed to have ex- 
communicated the Romans. It is a case of "katy-did, and 
katy-didn't," or six of one and a half dozen of the other. 

I do know that there was a division, and since then 
we have had the Greek Catholic Church and the Roman 
Catholic Church, both claiming to be the one true and 
AjDostolic Church. If the word "sect" means "something 
broken off or cut off," then we must admit that sectarianism 
began with this rupture — even should we be unable to 
decide just which one is the sect. Maybe both are. 

The first Church Council after the division met in Rome 
in 1139 and was known as the Second Lateran Council. 
Feeling the weakness of division, they endeavored to restore 



1 Dupin, Vol. II., p. 236. "Concise Cyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 
p. 380. "Pop. and Critical Bible Ency.," Vol. I., p. 407. 



The Reformation 141 

the unity of the Churchy but without avail. Intermittent 
efforts to unite the two great bodies were made from that 
time to 1453, when all serious and general efforts for union 
ceased. 

Celibacy of the Priesthood. 

As a matter of policy or strength-giving, the celibacy 
of the priesthood was authorized at this council. From 
"The World's History and Its Makers/' Vol. I., p. 336, I 
read, "When Cardinal Hildebrand became Pope Gregory 
VII. (1073), he set to work carrying out his idea of a 
theocracy, in which the Pope should be the chief temporal 
as well as ecclesiastical ruler of the world. In order to 
consecrate the energies of the clergy upon their sacred 
duty and the interests of the Church, he prohibited the 
marriage of priests." Of course they quoted Scripture to 
support the newly created dogma. Matt., 22 : 30 was 
garbled thus : "They neither marry nor are given in mar- 
riage," which refers to those in the resurrection state, not 
men in priestly robes. They read also I. Cor., 7:32,33, 
"But I would have you to be free from cares. He that is 
unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, how he 
may please the Lord: but he that is married is careful for 
the things of the world, how he may please his wife." 

They wanted to make their Church the Church of tTfe 
world, and must, therefore, have priests free from cares; 
men who could devote all their time and energies to the 
Church. A wife and family increased the temporal cares 
and burdens of the priest, and detracted from his spiritual 
service. And, men, there is some truth in that; but Paul 
gave a special reason in verse 26 for his special matri- 
monial advice. "Because of the distress that is upon us," 



142 The Maple Lectures 

is Paul's reason for the prohibitory instructions of these 
verses. In the next chapter and fifth verse we read, "Have 
we no right to lead about a wife that is a believer, even as 
the rest of the apostles, and the brethren of the Lord; and 
Cephas?" 

Transubstantiation and Auricular Confession. 

At the fourth Lateran Council, in 1215, the big doctrine 
of transubstantiation was canonized. In this it is declared 
that the priest, by a simple benediction, transubstantiates 
the bread into the real body of Jesus, and the wine into the 
real blood: so that when the communicant partakes of the 
bread, the real body of Jesus is received, and the priest in 
drinking the wine receives the real blood. 

In conversation with a Catholic lady — a school teacher, 
too — I asked, "Do you really believe that you eat the body 
of Jesus in the eucharist?" She affirmed that she did. It 
looks like bread, smells like bread, feels like bread, tastes 
like bread ; and yet they teach that it is not bread. Shades 
of Hillel! Can't we believe our senses? 

About this time Auricular Confession was authorized 
as a precautionary practice. The communicant must con- 
fess into the ears of the priest all his sins, in deed and 
thought, and permit the priest to question him. Originally 
and intentionally. Auricular Confession was more of a 
detective agency. To make this clear: not only was the 
Greek Church a menace to the Roman Catholic, but many 
had left both bodies ; and because they thought for them- 
selves, or refused to think as authority directed, they were 
branded as heretics. The confessional was an ancient 
"sweat box," where the priest (I almost said police) elicited 
or extorted from the confessant that which in any way 



The Reformation 143 

affected the faith and progress of the Church. Suppose 
we should set apart^ say, this corner to my right, as a 
confessional, and each could be made to confess at least 
once a week — don't you know I could find out a lot of 
things you have not told me as yet? 

Sprinkling Authorized. 

As we learned in a preceding lecture, sprinkling for 
baptism was permitted as far back as 251, but this in the 
case of clinics only. From the Edinburgh Ency., I read 
that "When Pope Stephen II. was a refugee in Pepin the 
monks of Cressy in Brittany consulted him, whether, in 
case of necessity, water poured on the head of the infant 
would be lawful. Stephen replied that it would. But 
though the truth of this fact be allowed — which, however, 
some Catholics deny — yet pouring or sprinkling was ad- 
mitted only in cases of necessity. It was not until the 
year 1311 that the legislature, in a council held in Ravenna, 
declared immersion or sprinkling to be indifferent. In 
Scotland, however, sprinkling was never practiced in ordi- 
nary cases till after the Reformation (about the middle of 
the sixteenth century). From Scotland it made its way 
into England, in the reign of Elizabeth, but was not 
authorized in the Established Church." 

The evidence is mountain high that sprinkling for bap- 
tism is not Apostolic, but originated too late, and was 
authorized by the Roman Catholic Church.^ Protestants, 
smoke that in your pipes. 

Beginning of the Reformation (?) 

For years I considered Luther the initial reformer, but 



2 "Rowe's Reformatory Movements," pp. 451-G2. Brent's "Plan of 
Salvntion," p. 3(56-92. 



144 The Maple Lectures 

when I investigated further^ I conceived Wiclif as the 
"Morning Star of the Reformation;" and the Paulicans, 
Catharists^ Nestorians, Albigenses, Waldenses and others 
as the stars that twinkled, though at times dimly, through 
the night. 

Brother John F. Rowe, while stating, "The apostolic 
order of things now completely fades out of view," yet 
affirms "That there was a remnant of the true worshipers 
of God found here and there during the Dark Ages." 
Some have tried to trace the Church of Christ successively 
back to Pentecost. The continuality of the Church of 
Christ from the Apostles to the present time is vague and 
mystical to me, and yet hades did not prevail against the 
Church.^ I am convinced that the many reformatory 
movements, almost without exception, are earnest, honest 
efforts to break out of the darkness and find the light. 

Wiclif* and Huss. 

King Edward and the Parliament of England refused 
to pay the tribute that Pope Urban V. demanded. Wiclif 
defended their position so successfully that the demand 
was never repeated, but he incurred the ill-will of the 
Pope. In 1374, the king appointed Wiclif a Royal Com- 
missioner to effect a treaty with the Pope's nuncios ; but 
Prof. Lechler. 
without avail. Twice he was summoned before the Church 

tribunals to answer for his attacks, but in each case was 
ably defended. Once a meeting broke up in a dispute, while 
Wiclif remaiend silent. 

Repeatedly he was charged with heresy; the Pope 
issued no less than five bulls of excommunication against 



»App. F. 1. Consider Matt., 16:18. 
* Wiclif — spelled in 28 different ways. We adopted the spelling of 



The Reformation 145 

him^ but Wiclif continued his work. When he attacked 
the false doctrines^ he lost many friends^ but made con- 
verts. One time when his colleagues silenced him in one 
of his lectures^ he quietly "went down from his chair" with 
the words_, "Nevertheless^ I think truth will win." And, 
friends, unquestionably it will. 

What had Wiclif done? He denounced the Pope's 
claims, assailed the religious and ecclesiastic orders for 
their corruptions, and longed to give the people an English 
translation of the Bible. 

The home call of the great reformer was a tragic one 
in its swiftness. On the last Lord's Day in 1384 he was 
officiating at the communion, when he fell to the floor, never 
to recover. He lingered only to the last of the year, 
when his soul passed on to that land where all is peace and 
love. And thus passed from earth's conflicts and sorrows 
he who was called the "Morning Star of the Reformation," 
leaving behind that priceless gem — an English translation 
of the Scriptures — the first to be given. 

In 1415 — the year they buried Huss, and thirty-one 
years after Wiclif's death — the Catholic Church ordered 
his body disinterred and placed in unconsecrated ground, 
and in 1428 Clement VIII. ordered his remains burned 
and the ashes cast into the river Swift: and yet the good 
work and spirit of Wiclif lives on and on. 

John Huss had read the works of Wiclif and caught 
his spirit and purpose. Unlike Wiclif, he sought at first 
to enlist his ecclesiastic superiors in religious reforms, but 
like all others who have attempted the same, was dis- 
appointed. When appointed synodical preacher, he took 
the opportunity to expose the wrongs of the clergy. Huss 
had a real backbone and a heart in front of it. And, 



146 The Maple Lectures 

friends, the wrongs of this world will never be successfully 
combated with until we have more men who, like Huss, 
stand for something worth while. 

Though the people liked Huss, the Archbishop, in 1411, 
excommunicated him, and laid an interdict upon the city, 
which Huss boldly disregarded. He answered the sum- 
mons and appeared before the General Council in 1415. 
The cardinals falsely charged that he tried to escape, and 
threw him in a dungeon, where for a year he was in irons 
and chained to a beam. After several so-called hearings 
he was condemned to be burned. July 6, 1415, they led 
him out and chained him to the stake, while enemies cried: 
"Thy soul we deliver to the devil." "And I commend it 
to the holy Lord Jesus," was his calm reply. When the 
torturing flames came up to his face he said, "Christ, thou 
Son of the living God, have mercy on me." 

His ashes were throne into the Rhine, but we have the 
Moravians, a splendid people, as monuments of his work. 
What crimes (?) did Huss commit? He disapproved of 
the abuses of the papacy, the scandals of the clergy and 
the corruptions of the entire system. He regarded the 
Scriptures as the infallible authority and the supreme 
standard of conduct. Once, with two others, he was 
appointed to examine the claims of an alleged miracle at 
Wilsnack, and he reported, urging the people to go to God's 
Book and not look for signs and miracles. Brethren, there's 
our plea and teaching four hundred years before the 
Campbells came. 

Savonarola, Wessel, TyndalL 

Our limited time prevents a consideration of Savonarola, 
the moral reformer, who opposed Lorenzo, the political 



The Reformation 147 

and religious boss of Florence^ and was finally excommuni- 
cated and burned at the stake for his attacks on sin— not 
for his doctrinal views. 

Wessel, a German writer of the fifteenth century^ dis- 
puted the infallibility of the Pope. He held the Scriptures 
in great reverence and taught that faith depended on the 
Bible. 

When Tyndall^ of England, was tutor and chaplain in 
the family of a Mr. Welsh, he often heard the clergy, that 
resorted at this home, discuss the teaching of Luther. 
Tyndall defended Luther, and in arguing with a priest 
that the people should have the Bible, the priest said, "We 
had better be without God's law than the Pope's." Where- 
upon Tyndall replied, 'T defy the Pope and all his laws, 
and if God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a 
boy that driveth a plow to know more of the Scriptures than 
you do." 

Now, there was in England a law that all who should 
read the Scriptures in their native tongue must forfeit 
land, cattle, goods and life, they and their heirs forever; 
and the Catholic law forbade the reading of the Bible in 
the native tongue under penalty of death. Yet Tyndall 
violated the law of human government and of the Church, 
and translated the Bible from the original Greek into the 
vernacular, though he knew it meant death. He paid the 
penalty — for nearly two years he laid in prison, "for the 
word of God and the testimony of Jesus;" and October 6, 
1536, he was strangled and burned to death in the prison 
yard. His last words were, "Lord, open the King of 
England's eyes." 

Whether because of this prayer, providence or the 
power of the people, it is a significant fact that in that 



148 The Maple Lectures 

same year this same king was induced to grant a royal 
license for issuing the Bible in English; and in 1539^ when 
he saw "Matthew's Bible/' he exclaimed: "In God's name, 
let it go forth among our people." 

Brethren, I thank God that these death-incurring battles 
for the old Book were so victoriously fought, that we can 
unmolestedly read the Bible as our guide — 

"The precious Book I'd rather have. 

Than all the earthly gems 
That e'er in monarch coffers shone. 

Or on their diadems. 
And were the sea one crystallite, 

The earth a golden ball, 
And gems were all the stars of night, 

This Book (holding up the Bible) is worth them all. 

Ah, no, the soul ne'er found relief 

In glittering hoards of wealth; 
Gems dazzle not the eyes of grief. 

Gold cannot purchase health. 
But here a blessed balm appears 

For every human woe. 
And they that seek the book in tears 

Their tears shall cease to flow." 

The ecclesiastical powers then, as now, did not want 
the common people to read God's word, only through certain 
creedal goggles ; yet these reformers all stood for the Bible 
as the Standard of conduct for the people. 

Luther, Tetzel and Indulgences.^ 

Luther was a German monk and a priest in the Catholic 
Church. The finar break with Rome came when Tetzel, the 
Italian, went into Germany selling indulgences. I will tell 
you about these things; and it is a long story. Suppose 
one dies who has lived the purest kind of a christian life for 



sRowe's "Reformatory Movements," pp. 380-383, 394, 395, gives the 
history of indulgences. 



The Reformation 149 

fifty years; we do not doubt that they go to heaven, but 
the doctrine of supererogation of works is that they have 
more goodness than they really need to get through the 
pearly gates — in fact, if it were possible, the overplus 
would carry them through and beyond heaven. This surplus 
righteousness is held by the Vatican power to be appropri- 
ated to those needy ones who buy such indulgences. My ! 
wouldn't such sell with a vengeance in this day — and in a 
community like this — if people were untaught! 

We are amused at this paganistic practice, but I know 
Protestants in this civilized age who write the chain letters 
to their friends, believing that they ward off sickness and 
misfortune, and bring good luck. 

They needed funds to finish St. Peter's Cathedral at 
Rome; so Tetzel went into Germany selling indulgences, 
which were briefs, authoritatively signed, promising good 
health, good fortune and spiritual blessings. Tetzel was 
scooping in the dough and sending it to Rome. Luther was 
one honest priest, and he opposed Tetzel and preached 
against his corrupt practice.^ Tetzel attempted to reply 
to the Ninety-Five Theses which Luther nailed to the 
Castle Church door, but the students burned his replies in 
derision. Finally, in April, 1521, Luther was summoned 
to appear before the Imperial Diet at Worms. He went; 
and two or three miles from the city some friends met him 
and implored him to return and not plunge into danger or 
the jaws of death, or recant and save himself. His un- 
equivocal reply was, 'T will go to Worms, even though 
there were as many devils within its walls as there are tiles 



« Prof. E. J. Wolf says, "It was In the confessional that Luther learned 
the ruin of souls through the traffic in indulgences, and he then posted his 
Thesis, hoping to direct the attention of theologians to the great evil, and 
by public discussion to save the honor of the Church." 



150 The Maple Lectures 

upon the roofs of the houses;" and he went to Worms^ defy- 
ing the devil, and concerned only for the victory of truth. 

Standing before the Emperor, Charles V., the legates 
and nuncios of Rome and the barons of Germany, he 
declared his loyalty to truth in language that can never 
die : "Here stand I ; I can no farther, God help me. Amen." 
His appearance there, one man against an empire, is the 
most splendid scene in history. The august assembly was 
thunderstruck by his pointblank refusal to surrender his 
convictions to any power on earth. 

Luther sounded the death-knell of ecclesiastical and 
political tyranny, but it remains for us to kill it, and bury 
it, and place an epitaph o'er the grave, "No Resurrection." 
Oh^ for more men now like Luther ! Too many people 
have a spineless jelly for a backbone. "Here I stand," 
shows courage. Let death appall, let hell enrage, let the 
devils threaten, but take a stand for the truth, and stand. 

Luther denied that the Roman Church was exclusively 
the Church of Christ; that the ascendancy of the Pope of 
Rome was divine; and questioned the Pope's authority, and 
that the councils of the Church are infallible. He taught 
that Christians are priests of God, quoting Rev., 1 : 6, and 
other texts in support; that the canonical Scriptures alone 
are an infallible guide. 

"Breaking away from the traditions of ages and from 
the hoary authority of the papacy, he stood like a granite 
peak against the fury and frenzy sure to attend every 
great social revolution." The result was his excommuni- 
cation by Pope Leo X. in 1520, and the procclamation of 
the imperial ban against Luther as a heretic and an outcast 
from the Church; and his writings were prohibited, yet 



The Reformation 151 

from his teaching and spirit we have the Lutheran denomi- 
nation. 
Henry VIII. Unparalleled Wife Exterminator. 

I seldom publish one's matrimonial record (it's none of 
my business)^ but we must tell you how Uncle Henry 
handled "the woman question." In 1509 he married 
Catharine of Aragon and divorced her in 1532. Pope 
Clement VII. disapproved of the divorcement^ and Henry 
got mad. Prof. Fisher^ in "History of the Reformation/' 
and Benham both say^ "Henry VIII.'s divorce was the 
occasion of England's breach with Rome^ but the causes 
had been gathering for whole generations before." Bishop 
Hurst corroborates thus: "Henry's grievance against 
Rome was purely personal. He resolved on the divorce 
to which the Pope refused consent. This brought the ques- 
tion to a crisis^ and Henry broke the ties which had hitherto 
bound him to the papacy."^ 

The same year that Henry divorced Catharine he 
married Anne Boleyne^ the hired girl — maid of honor I 
think they called her, but rather the maid of dishonor — 
and executed her four years later. The same year that he 
executed wife No. 2 he married Jane Seymour, who was 
lucky enough to die in 1537. We must give him credit for 
waiting three years before launching a fourth matrimonial 
barque. So in 1540 the old codger married another Anne — 
wouldn't that kill you? — Anne of Cleves; and beheaded 
her in the same year to marry another — yes, friends, it is 
true — another Catharine. Henry beheaded Catharine 
Howard, wife No, 5, in 1542, and in 1543 married Catha- 
rine Par — that is three Catharines now, two Annes and 
one Jane. Wife No. 6 outlived Henry: and if he had not 



"Popular and Critical Ency.," Vol. I., p. 409. 



^"52 The Maple Lectures 

died in 1547 lie would have married and killed all the 
Catharines^ Annes and Janes in England^ and thus settled 
the woman question. 

Look at the record: six wives^ divorced one^ beheaded 
three^ one died and one outlived him. I call him the peerless 
wife exterminator of the world. He is the founder of the 
Church of England^ which^ strange to say, stands against 
divorce as no other church save, perhaps, the Catholic. 
Unlike Luther and preceding reformers, Henry's heart was 
not in it — or maybe, in view of his matrimonial experiments, 
there was too much heart in it. At least there was not much 
reformation in his work. 

I clipped from a newspaper the other day a part of 
a sermon in which an Episcopal preacher attempted to 
refute the historical fact that Henry VIII. started the 
Church of England. "The facts are that he didn't mean 
to found a Church, that he never expressed any intention 
of doing such a thing, that the Church of his realm had 
no consciousness of any new founding and that every care 
was taken that the continuity of the Church should be 
preserved in everything that meant to make that continuity 
in the first centuries of the Church. 

The assertion was constantly made in that day that 
no new thing was started in England, and by every ancient 
test the assertion was true. The same people continued 
to worship in the same churches, ministered to, for the 
most part, by the same priests. The ancient Church was 
there when he came on the scene, and it remained unaltered 
in any essential particulars after he was gone. The Church 
of England knows no human founder." This is not true 
to the historical facts. 



The Reformation 153 

Mennonites, Presbyterians and Others. 

It is utterly impossible to paint on a charts even as 
large as this/ all the denominations of the world. We 
name only a few of the representative ones. Reverting a 
little, we notice the date 1525. Menno Simons was a priest 
in the Catholic Church, who cast off the papal doctrine, 
and finally concluded that Infant Baptism was not Scrip- 
tural. From his teaching we have the Mennonites — a 
splendid people in many respects. 

The church government of that day was under fire, 
and many opposed or questioned both the papal and epis- 
copal systems. The promulgation of a government by 
presbyteries originated, in 1557, the Presbyterian Church. 
Others, who opposed the two prevailing forms and would 
not accept the Presbyterian, taught that the congregation 
was the source of authority and the governing body. Thus 
the Congregationalist started in 1580. 

As the people read the Bible more and more they 
learned that many of the church doctrines and practices 
were unscriptural. From the Book they learned that John 
baptized in the Jordan: that Jesus was baptized in the 
same river ;^ that John baptized where there was much 
water; and that Jesus referred to baptism as a birth of 
water, and that Paul referred to it as a burial. ^° They 
read where Jesus commanded baptism, as did Peter on 
Pentecost and at the house of Cornelius. In short, they 
learned that the Bible baptism is the immersion in water 
of a penitent believer. ^^ Not because of their loyalty to 
John the Baptist, as some erroneously state, but because 
they stressed Scriptural baptism (especially as to the 



8 See Chart p. 71. ^ Matt., 3:13-17; Mark, 1:5- 

"John, 3:5,23; Rom., 6:4; Col., 2:12. 

'1 App. F. 2 has all the references on baptism. 



154 The Maple Lectures 

subjects and mode) they were called Baptists. The Bap- 
tist Church is traceable historically to 1611, and since then 
has divided into sixteen kinds. 

In 1646 the Friends grew up from those who were tired 
of forms — doctrinal and governmental — and ignored what 
are generally regarded as ordinances of God. 

Methodists, Church of England Americanized. 

John and Charles Wesley and others saw that the 
Church of England was more for formalism than for the 
spirit; so they met to pray for more holiness, zeal and 
spirituality. They held their prayer meetings near the 
street, and when the passersby heard them praying so 
long and earnestly, they thought it a peculiar method, 
and nicknamed them Methodists, which name they have 
worn since. 

Tracing the Church of England, we come to the date 
1789, which, as you know, was just after the Revolution- 
ary War. The Church of England had gained a footing 
in the American Colonies, but the war created a dislike to 
England and everything that was English. While retain- 
ing, for the most part, the doctrines and practices of the 
mother Church, the Protestant Episcopal Church of 
America grew out of the war feeling, Americanizing the 
church name. Talk about Americanism — that has Roose- 
velt beat a block! 

Both the English and American Churches had High 
and Low Church, and there was a feeling with some in 
the American "branch" that their Church needed reform- 
ing. So in 1873 — the year silver was demonetized, accord- 
ing to Mr. Bryan — the Reformed Episcopal Church was 
born. 



The Reformation 155 

Universalism, Unitarians, United Brethren. 

Coming back to 1750, the doctrine of Universalism 
sprang up. A loving God would not condemn all the good, 
honest people, even though they be wrong; He will ulti- 
mately save all, was their teaching, which made many con- 
verts. 

Church Councils of yore had repeatedly discussed the 
nature of Jesus; the creeds carried the dogma emphasizing 
the divinity of Jesus and ignoring or underestimating His 
humanity. The Unitarians set forth the real humanity of 
Jesus as it had not been taught since the days of the 
Apostles, but they — I say it regrettingly — ignored or under- 
valued the divinity of Jesu«. Many of them reject the 
fact that miracles were performed, and teach that Jesus 
is divine only as man is divine. 

The United Brethren proposed in 1789 to unite 
brethren of all denominations, but the present divided 
Christendom is evidence of their failure. 

Mormons and Adventists. 

The Mormons came out with a brand-new religion in 
1830; a revelation written on gold plates, that were taken 
out of a hill in New York State, from which came the Book 
of Mormon — regarded by the adherents as inspired Scrip- 
ture. If there ever was a religious fake, that's one of 
them. You know one can catch religious suckers galore 
if they put mysterious bait on the liook. 

In 1831 appeared a people who were born in tlie dark 
of the moon; who, looking on the dark side of life, saw a 
divided Christendom and a Satan-controlled world. They 
felt that the world was growing worse, and that God must 
intervene before even a few would be saved. They taught 



156 The Maple Lectures 

that the second advent of Jesus was near — yea, they set 
the time (1843). Many expected Him to come — got ready 
to meet Him, robes on and waiting to go with Him ; but 
they didn't go. He didn't appear. They confessed their 
miscalculations and misinterpretations of some prophecies. 
Others have set the time variously (from 1843 to 1914/ 
and now all the way to 1972), but I will put in my time 
preparing, rather than by guessing and setting dates. 

Christian Science and Dowieism. 

In 1879 Rev. Mrs. Mary Baker Glover Eddy founded 
the system of healing disease of mind and body, which 
teaches that all cause and effect is mental, and that sin, 
sickness and death will be destroyed by a full understand- 
ing of the Divine Principles of Jesus' teaching and healing. 

I am sure that wonderful cures are wrought through 
this system; also by hypnotism. Spiritualism, Mormonism, 
therapeutics, etc., but there are the same psychological 
laws operating in all these healings. 

John Alexander Dowie chose, for his unique preaching 
and healing, Chicago and the psychological period — begin- 
ning in 1890 and running through the World's Fair. In 
1896 he organized the Christian Catholic Church, which 
was dissolved by the Court of Cook County in 1906. Mr, 
Dowie undoubtedly healed hundreds and gouged thousands. 
He claimed to be the Second Elijah, and there is one argu- 
ment that he was: the first Elijah was fed by the ravens 
of the country, and Dowie was fed by the gulls of the 
country. 

Results of the Reformation. 

In conclusion, let us glance at our chart and note the 



The Reformation 157 

conglomerated condition of the religious world. For more 
than five hundred years men undertook to reform the 
Catholic Churchy but finally failed. The result^ however, 
of their good-intentioned efforts was the creation of many 
denominations^ which have divided and subdivided ; so 
that now there are 2 bodies of the Moravians^ 34 of the 
Lutherans, 12 of the Mennonites, 16 of the Presbyterians, 
16 of the Baptists and 15 of the Methodists. Even the 
United Brethren themselves divided into 2 bodies, the 
Mormons into at least 2, the Adventists into 4 and the 
Friends 4. 

And yet some quote, 'T am the vine and ye are the 
branches," and apply it to this denominational condition. 
I can not conceive of Jesus, the vine, growing so many 
different kinds of branches, with varied leaves, and fruit 
that is bitter and sour and sweet. I have noticed, too, 
that if any new tender branch starts all the other powerful 
ones do their worst to prevent its growth and gaining a 
place among them. But when it gets big and strong they 
accept it as one of the orthodox branches and worthy of a 
place in the Union Meetings. 

When "pastor" of the Christian Church, I was invited 
to a minister's meeting. Upon inquiring why the Universal- 
ist "pastor" was not present, I was informed by the 
Methodist "pastor" that they did not invite him because 
they did not regard him as orthodox. "But, brethren," I 
said, "why did you invite me?" "Well, we consider your 
Church orthodox." Whereupon I said, "Brethren, for 
seventy-five years or more we have debated you fellows 
to prove our orthodoxy, and I thank you now, since you 
have concluded that we are orthodox, but as your standard 
is strength, not the Scriptures, I am sure that you, in this 



158 The Maple Lectures 

city, as in some others, will some day regard the Universal- 
ist as orthodox." 

The weak religious bodies are always branded by the 
big ones as heterodox, but when they grow strong the brand 
is changed to that of orthodox. Friends, while I recog- 
nized splendid Scriptural truths and Christian character 
istics in many of the denominations, I am sure denomina- 
tionalism will damn this world unless people turn to the 
old paths. 

Our next lecture — "The Restoration" — solves the prob- 
lem. In the meantime let us recognize that "Plato's pris 
oner, if not out of the cave, has at least his face to the 
light." 



APPENDICES TO LECTURE VI. 

App. F. 1. 

Did Hades prevail? See Matt., 16: 18. 

This pertinent question is many times educed from 
those who have heard these Lectures, in which the follow- 
ing declarations are made or implied: 

1. There was a Church of Christ in all its essential 
features by the close of the first century, if not before. 

2. The Church of Christ existed from 30 A. D. to 331, 
when it became the Catholic Church in name, and semi- 
paganistic in doctrine and practice. 

3. From A. D. 331 to 1054 we are wont to speak of 
the Catholic Church: from 1054 to the Reformation, of 
the Greek Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Church ; 
and from the Reformation to the Restoration — 1830 {}) — 
we see the denominations, including, of course, both Catho- 
lic Churches. 



The Reformation 159 

4. Beginning with the Restoration of the Apostolic 
faith in 1830 (or can we date it earlier, or later?) we 
have the Church of Christ. 

Questions : Did the Church of Christ actually exist from 
A. D. 331 to the Restoration, or should we say to the 
Reformation? Where was the Church of Christ during 
the "Dark Ages" — in the wilderness, or hidden away in 
caves, etc.? As there were many heretical sects during 
this obscure period — 331 to the Reformation — can we his- 
torically and Scripturally identify any one of these with 
the Church of Christ of the first century? If so, which 
one? The Waldenses? Benham says, ''There has been 
a wholesale falsification of documents, by forgery and by 
mutilation, with the object of showing that the Waldenses 
is a Christian body which had descended from Apostolic 
times, preserving their faith through the ages in primitive 
form." 

The fact is pointed out that "they made the Bible alone 
the rule of their faith, and rejected whatever was not 
founded on it, or conformable to Apostolic teaching," but 
it is also a fact that they were excommunicated by the 
Pope in 1184<, and driven from the Roman Catholic Church; 
and then took their stand on the Bible alone. 

Must we conclude, therefore, that the Church of Christ, 
or the nucleus, was once within the pale of the corrupt 
Church ; and that the real Restoration, or coming out from 
among them, took place in the twelfth, rather than in the 
nineteenth, century? 

Another fact: Peter Waldus, a rich citizen of Lyons — 
who to imitate the apostolic (?) teaching and practice, gave 
his goods to the poor in 1170 — founded the Waldenses, 
who wear this human name. 



160 The Maple Lectures 

Some have identified the Waldenses with the Albigenses^ 
and quote from the Ency. Britannica or Maitland's "His- 
tory of the Albigenes" thus: "The descent of the Albi- 
genses may be traced with tolerable distinctness from the 
Paulicians^ a sect in the Greek Church during the sixth 
century^" and then jump from the Paulicians to an earlier 
sect, and finally back to the Apostles. But the above 
authorities state as emphatically that the Albigenses 
"should not be confounded, as has frequently been the case, 
with the Waldenses." So there you are, or rather where 
you are. 

It is" amusing and ludicrous to hear a Baptist and a 
Church of Christ preacher both presenting the same iden- 
tical arguments to preserve the continuity of their respective 
bodies from the Apostles; and, oh, how they ardently com- 
pete for the "right of way" over the same historically 
obscured, mythically imaginary and disconnected trail. 

It creates a most lively situation and a closer compe- 
tition when all the sects endeavor to get into that same dim 
trail — and in the middle of it at that. 

Coming now to the Scriptures, we read that the kingdom 
of God "shall never be destroyed, nor the sovereignty left 
to another — and it shall stand forever;" that "it is' an 
everlasting kingdom — from generation to generation — the 
dominion shall be even unto the end, and is everlasting, 
which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which 
shall not be destroyed, etc." (Dan., 2 : 44 ; 4 : 3, 34 ; 6:26; 
7:14,27.) 

Some explain that theSe prophecies refer to the king- 
dom which has not been established as yet, and not to the 
Church tliat began on Pentecost. Thus, in a way, elim- 
inating this seeming difficulty, Gabriel declared that "of 



The Reformation 161 

his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke, 1:33), which 
some say does not refer to the Church. (Before differen- 
tiating between the Church and the Kingdom, see Scrip- 
tures under App. C. 1.) 

Jesus said, "upon this rock I will build my church; 
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." 

First, as to the interpretation: Did Jesus say that 
Hades shall not prevail against (a) this foundational rock 
or (6) his building the Church or (c) his building on this 
rocJc or (d) against the Church itself? Without stopping 
to discuss these various interpretations, I take it that he 
meant that Hades (z. e., "the unseen" — to men — the apos- 
tacy, Dark Ages, Man of Sin, etc.?) shall not completely 
overcome the Church. 

In our first lecture, we gave the elements of the king- 
dom or Church as follows : 

1. The foundation — "Jesus the Christ, the Son of 
God" — against which evident fact Hades did not, and 
shall not, prevail. 

2. Jesus as King. While, perhaps, there were disloyal 
subjects during the apostacy, Jesus was not dethroned 
as King. 

3. The whole world as the territory of Him who had 
received all authority had not been diminished. 

4. As the Scriptural subjects of Jesus are the taught 
ones, it is doubtful if there were many such in the apostate 
Church or without. 

5. The Scriptures, as the law, which the beast kept 
in the dead languages, hence from the people, were not 
annihilated nor buried. 

So the elements of the kingdom, for the most part, 
were thus kept intact, and Hades did not prevail against 



162 The Maple Lectures 

the Church. However, if our view of the Church includes 
only the worship on the Lord's DaVj, then we may find it 
hard to locate any who thus met during the apostacy to 
worship in the Apostolic order; and, therefore, to the con- 
clusion that there was not a Church of Christ at all during 
that time. 



App. F. 2. — References on Baptism. 

Matt., 3:5-7; cf. Mark 1:4-6; Luke, 3:7-12. Matt., 
3:13-14; cf. Mark, 1:9-11; Luke, 3:21,22. Matt., 
28:16-20; cf. Mark, 16:15,16; Luke, 7:29,30; John, 
3:5, 22, 23; Acts, 2:37-42; 8:9-40; 9:7-18; {cf. 22: 1-16); 
10:44-48; {cf. 11:16-34); 18:8; 19:1-5; Rom., 6:1-4; 
cf. Col., 2:12. I. Cor., 10:1-3; Gal., 3:27; Eph., 4:5; 
I. Pet., 3:21. Scriptural allusions to Baptism: Eph., 
5:26; Titus, 3:2-6; Heb.^ 10:22. 



THE RESTORATION. 
(Lecture VII.) 



"Tliou shalt be called The repairer of the breach, The restorer 
of paths to dwell in." — Isaiah. 



"Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths where 
is the good way: and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your 
souls." — Jeremiah. 



"You cannot read your Bible, you cannot read these Acts of 
the Spirit through the Apostles, you cannot read of these won- 
derful days of the first church, without feeling;, 'If that is God's 
ideal, where are we'?" — Gipsy Smith. 



The first Christians were considered a sect, similarly 
as the Essenes, Sadducees, Pharisees and Zealots were sects 
of the Jews.^ 

Originally the Church was persecuted by both Jews 
and Gentiles, but strange to say, nevertheless it is true, 
when she became allied with a pagan and political power 
she persecuted as zealously as she had been persecuted. 

The Protestant Reformation initially was a protest 
against a millenium of persecutions, the corruptions of the 
Church and the papacy, and a piece-meal attempt to ex- 
tricate the world from tlie thralldom of Romanism and 
from the clutches of a proud and imperious Prelacy. 
Stranger still, when the Protestants became powerful they 
also persecuted arrogantly — and each other, too. 

This historical aspect of an wn-Christian Church has 
made more skeptics than Ingersoll, Paine, Voltaire and all 
the other agnostics ever made. 



lActs, 5:17: 15:5; 24:5; 26:5; 28:22. 



164 The Maple Lectures 

By the time we reach the nineteenth century we find a 
pandemonium of persecuting sects in the closest compe- 
tition and an ungodly rivalry for denominational ascend- 
ency; and quarreling and fighting over party shibboleths. 
The consciences of church communicants were fettered 
with creeds; a line of distinction was clearly drawn be- 
tween the clergy and the laity; the masses were ignorant 
of God's Word; in fact^ the Bible was a dead letter and 
in operative among the people. The world "was given 
over to idolatrous worship of opinions^ speculative theology, 
scholastic dogmas and men-made creeds." 

Such was the fearfully distracted condition of things 
with which the lecture tonight has to do, in part, at least. 

Imperative Something. What? 

That something was imperative was seen, as it ever 
has been, by a few noble souls, but, "What is that some- 
thing.^" remained with some unanswered. 

The Reformation, while serving as stepping stones, 
was inadequate as an antidote for the poisonous fruits of 
denominationalism, viz., sectarian selfishness, bigotry, party 
intolerance, dissension and disunion: and, therefore, was 
wanting as a panacea for the religious and social ills and 
as a return to the primitive Apostolic practices. 

The second scheme suggested is Socialistic Evolution. 
Out of this conglomerated religious, social and moral mess 
there will finally evolve a Christian condition of equality 
in which there will be no distinctions, castes or special 
privileges. All of the paganistic stuff will slough off, leav- 
ing only the pure and simple truth; and a real democracy 
will displace both plutocracy and autocracy. They quote 
Daniel that "the saints shall receive the kingdom and 



The Restoration l6S 

possess the kingdom, and the world-kingdom shall be given 
to the people of the saints when the kingdom of this world 
is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ."^ 

The third theory is that of theocracy. A catastrophic 
epiphany will precede the chaining of Satan, the annihila- 
tion of sin, and the renovation of the earth. Ultimately 
Jesus will reign personally on the new earth from David's 
throne. 

The fourth solution is that of the restoration of the 
primitive Church — - "the Ancient Order of Things" — in 
faith and fruits, doctrine and worship. 

The Ideal Church. Restored? 

While they referred to the ideal Apostolic Church, 
they did not mean that any one congregation, like that in 
Jerusalem, Corinth, Antioch et al., was perfect or ideal. ^ 

The condition of the Corinthian and other congrega- 
tions convinced them that the actions and imperfections of 
members, marred by sin and false religions, were not the 
characteristics of the ideal church ; that as Milton said, 
"Truth is as impossible to be soiled by any outward touch 
as the sunbeam." They read where "Christ loved the 
church, and gave himself up for it; tliat he might present 
the church to himself a glorious church, not having spot 
or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy 
and without blemish."* 

The pure Apostolic Church is the Church of Christ as 
seen under the administration of, or featured idealistically 
by, the inspired Apostles, who developed most, if not all, 
her essential characteristics by the close of the first century. 



2 Dan., 7:18,22,27; Rev., 11:15; cf. 12:10. 
» See also Rev., 2cl and 3cl chaps. 
4Eph., 5:25-27. 



166 The Maple Lectures 

That the denominations (maybe the Church of Christ in 
some respects) is far from the Apostolic ideal or pattern 
is quite evident. 

On this point Gipsy Smith spoke, "Now^, listen; if that 
first little picture of the early Church that you have in this 
chapter, or the preceding chapter, on the day of Pentecost, 
if that was God's ideal church, will you jaaint that picture 
as it was, and as it ought to be, and will you paint the 
picture of the Church of God, so-called, today, and will 
3^ou put the two side b}^ side, and dare any man in his sane 
mind and in his sane moments say this is as that? Dare 
any man say that the Church today — and when I speak 
of the Church I use the word in the sense that the Bible 
uses it — dare any man say the Church today is that? I 
think if we are honest we shall say that we have fallen 
from grace. May God help us to get back again ! You 
can not read your Bible, jou can not read these Acts of the 
Spirit through the Apostles, you can not read of these 
wonderful days of the first Church without feeling, "If that 
is God's ideal, where are we?" And do not blame anybody 
because we are part of the society. The Church of God 
is made up of units, and you and I are units of that great 
Church, and we are responsible in our degree and in our 
capacity and according to our light, we are responsible for 
the general condition of things. The Lord open our eyes 
that we ma}^ see as these men saw." 

Back to the Apostles. How? 

The degraded condition of the religious world forced 
some to the inevitable conclusion that they should feel a 
closer connection with Christ and the Apostles, but "How?" 
was a heart-deep question. The answers which theologians 



The Restoration 167 

and priests gave were more misleading and mystifying than 
directive. 

By the arrows, which you see on our charts I have tried 
to represent Apostolic Succession as a way back to the 
Apostles. By it is meant "an uninterrupted succession 
or descent from the Apostles by regular and successive 
ordinations of Bishops^ held to be a fact and to be neces- 
sary for valid administration of the sacraments." Hence 
its adherents talked much about being "in order/' "having 
the marriage rite" and the "christening performed by an 
ordained minister." 

This is true of Apostolic Succession: the Protestant 
ministerial lineage must be traced back to and through the 
Roman Catholic line, and eventually as you see (pointing 
to the chart) the Catholic road; and finally after wander- 
ing back and through the mist, you lose your way entirely 
or become confused in the conflicting statements of Catholic 
historians. 

Darras (Catholic) confesses, "The succession of the 
Popes here (at the very beginning) presents an historical 
difficulty which has been fruitful in controversies." 

Another solution to the problem of identifying the 
Church, or perhaps more of a balm to alleviate fears or a 
fetch to stifle the desire for Scriptural things, was that 
of authority. Authoritative affirmations from priests or 
preachers that their respective churches are the Church 
of Christ do not make it so. 

The braggadocian swaggerings of religious editors that 
such and such is the true and loyal Church of Christ, or 
that they always interpret the Scriptures correctly, while 
others are digressive, is on a par with the rantings and 
struttings of the society officers. 



168 The Maple Lectures 

Drummond wrote^, "It has been indicated that the 
authority of authority is waning. This is a plain fact. And 
it was inevitable. Authority — man's authority^ that is — is 
for children. And there necessarily comes a time when 
they add to the question^ What shall I do.^^ or What shall 
I believe? the adult's interrogation — Why?" 

Accordingly some had put away childish things and 
began thinking as men. Too many now believe certain 
teachings to be Scriptural because Brother So-and-So, 
"who baptized me/' or "preached grandfather's funeral/' 
said so; or 'T read in Brother So-and-So's book, and he 
united my sister in marriage." 

The Name — Not All-Important. 

Then^ too, we have those who stake everything on, or 
revolve everything around the name; that is, if a congre- 
gation calls itself the Church of Christ it is, by them, 
unquestionably the Church of the New Testament. Now 
it is just as erroneous to teach that everything is in the 
name as it is untrue to say that "There's nothing in a 
name." 

In a certain city where I held two meetings, one of 
the digressive congregations announces their services under 
the name of Christian Church, deeds the property accord- 
ingly, yet, as a feint, has on the corner stone the name, 
"Church of Christ." The government statistical report, 
furnished by the American Christian Missionary Society, 
places this congregation with the denomination known as 
the Disciples of Christ. The digressive congregation at 
Huron, S. D., contends for the name Church of Christ, yet 
has all the earmarks of other digressives, from pastor to 
contributing to the societies, instrumental music, etc. 



The Restoration 169 

Bretliren_, listen: you may carve the name Church of 
Christ on the corner stone — or four corner stones — and 
paint it all over the church buildings inside and outside, 
and talk glibly about the name, but it won't amount to a 
shadow in the shade — is of no consequence whatever — if 
the doctrine, worship and works of the congregation are 
not Scriptural. 

To the Sardis church it was written, *T know thy works, 
that thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou are dead."''' 
So when you find a congregation with the name, don't be 
deceived into thinking that that makes it loyal to the Book, 
Decide the matter by their worship and works, and attitude 
to the societies in connection with the name.*^ 

The Bible Our One Rule. 

Reviewing, we note that Wiclif gave the people the first 
English translation of the Bible. That was in the fourteenth 
century. In the fifteenth century Wessel showed a great 
reverence for the ScrijDtures, affirming that faith comes by 
the same; and in the next century Tyndall argued for the 
Bible for the people and translated it from the Greek that 
they might read it for themselves. 

The spirit of translation and interpretation entered into 
the two witnesses that for 1,260 years had been in the 
dead languages and kept from the common people, and 
they stood on their feet.'' 

Friends, the only way to settle these religious questions, 
the only way to get back to Jesus and the Apostles is 
by this Book — this Book which all accept as true. Chilling- 



5 Rev., 3:1. 

" App. G. 1, on the "names. 

■^Rev., 11: 11. 



170 The Maple Lectures 

worth said, "The Bible and the Bible alone is the religion 
of Protestants." 

I want to read you something from Professor Huxley. 
Now, he was an evolutionist, and some say a skeptic, but 
the following is all so true and fitting: 'T have always 
advocated the reading of the Bible, and the diffusion of 
the study of that most remarkable collection of books 
among the people. I\;s teachings are so infinitely superior 
to those of the sects, who are just as busy now as the 
Pharisees were eighteen hundred years ago in smothering 
them under the precepts of men. It is so certain, to my 
mind, that the Bible contains within itself the refutation 
of nine-tenths of the mixture of sophistical metaphysics 
and old-world superstitions which have been piled around 
it by the so-called Christians of later times ; it is so clear 
that the only immediate and ready antidote to the poison 
that has been mixed with Christianity, to the intoxication 
and delusion of mankind, lies in copious draughts from the 
undefiled spring, that I exercise the right and duty of free 
judgment on the part of every man, mainly for the purpose 
of inducing other laymen to follow my example."^ 

If men would devote themselves more to the Bible, 
rather than creed; if followers of Christ would devote 
themselves more to His Church, rather than their pet 
denominations, it would be but a short time when the light 
of the cross would illumine the uttermost parts of the earth 
with its redeeming brightness. 

The Restoration Movement was primarily, and is 
especially, a movement to realize an ideal; that is, make 
the Bible in reality the Guide for the people. 

As the Renaissance was the forerunner of the Reforma- 



From the "Nineteenth Century," 



The Restoration 171 

tion^ as the great religious movements known as the Restora- 
tion are symptomatic of causes which lie far back in the 
centuries. While Wiclif and others were the robins which 
foretold the coming Springtime of the Reformation, to be 
followed by the Summertime of the Restoration, there were 
deep-seated causes which produced these effects. So now 
we will tell you about the Restoration. 

Stone — Christian or New Lights. 

Barton W. Stone was a law student in the Guilford 
Academy when a religious revival in the town impressed 
him so that eventually he changed the purpose of his life, 
and decided to enter the Presbyterian ministry. This 
necessitated a careful study of the Confession of Faith, 
which greatly increased Stone's perplexities. At his final 
examination, when asked if he accepted the Confession, his 
reply was, "As far as consistent with the Word of God." 

If prophecy is not an arbitrary decree which is finally 
fulfilled because it was thus decreed, but the eye which 
foresees the coming events — the logical consequences of 
crtain facts which tend to fulfillment — then young Stone's 
concise answer was prophetic and indicative of his ultimate 
rejection of the Confession of Faith and withdrawal from 
the Presbyterian Church. That response was sure to bring 
a radical change some time. 

It is the one who opens the mouth and acquiescently 
says, "Mr. Preacher, shovel in the stuff — paganistic and 
everything — and I'll swallow the whole business, even if it 
makes me sick, because you are the ordained and authori- 
tative shoveler," that will attain to nothing more than a 
lackadaisical vassal. 

Consequentl}'^ it came to pass that Stone doubted much 



172 The Maple Lectures 

of the Confession of Faith, and his orthodoxy was ques- 
tioned by the higher-ups. The final outcome of the matter 
was that he and five others withdrew from the Lexington 
Synod and constituted themselves into the "Springfield 
Presbytery." June 28, 1804, they published "The Last 
Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery," a 
most humorous and unique document, yet full of Scriptural 
truth. 

Declaring the Bible to be the supreme standard or guide, 
they continued their plea for the union of God's people, and 
preached Jesus and Him crucified. Thousands attended 
these meetings and great excitement prevailed, for all the 
paraphernalia of a modern holiness revival obtained, and 
the manfestations regarded then as of the Spirit were after- 
wards condemned by Mr. Rogers, a co-laborer with Stone, 
and an attendant at these meetings, who wrote the "Biog- 
raphy of B. W. Stone." 

The converts of Stone were called Christians and nick- 
named New Lights. While holding to believers' baptism, 
for the most part, yet some practiced infant baptism; some 
few had been baptized Scripturally, but many had simply 
been sprinkled. Baptism with them was not a test of 
fellowship. 

Stone relates that one time when sinners were at the 
mourners' bench "and none seemed to be comforted. I 
was considering the cause. The words of Peter on Pente- 
cost rolled through my mind, 'Repent and be baptized for 
the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the 
Holy Ghost.' I thought, were Peter here he would thus 
address these mourners. I quickly arose and addressed 
them in tlie same language, and urged them to comply. 
Into the spirit of the doctrine I was never led, until it was 



The Restoration 173 

received by Brother A. Campbell, some years after." 

Though Campbell and Stone did not meet until 1824, a 
meeting was convened at Lexington, Ky., in 1832 to effect 
a union of the "Disciples" or "Reformers," as the converts 
of Campbell were called, and the "Christians." And, 
brethren, if the spirit of both Stone and Smith, who were 
chosen as the leading speakers, and the love that controlled 
that meeting could be transmitted into the hearts and lives 
of our editors and preachers, the Church of Christ would 
be a great united family, rather than a body divided by 
egotists, hobbyists and factionists, to the delight of the 
denominations and digressives. 

As in the days of old, when the sons of God came 
together, Satan came into their midst; and as it is in these 
later days, so it was with the union meeting of 1832. It 
was not long until the peace of congregations was dis- 
turbed by those who "caused divisions and occasions of 
stumbling, contrary to the doctrine,"^ So Elders John 
Smith and John Rodgers, formerly of the two bodies, were 
sent out to counteract the evil influence. 

There were a few who refused to join Stone and the 
others in this union, hence we have today the New Light 
Christian Church, with about 100,000 members. Stone 
and Campbell became warm friends, and after carefully 
considering their points of doctrinal differences came to a 
practical agreement on the essentials. 

Thomas CampbelL 

The father of Thomas Campbell was at first a Roman 
Catholic, but finally renounced Romanism for the Church 
of England, in which he died. Thomas was born in Ireland 



»Rom., 16: 17-19, 



174 The Maple Lectures 

in 1763; educated in Glasgow University and Divinity 
Hall; afterwards conducted an Academy^ and was for 
several years a Presbyterian minister of the Anti-Burghers 
branch. 

"Out of a protest against the Established Churches 
there had grown up in England^ Scotland and Ireland 
numerous religious denominations, which when not fighting 
what was regarded by them. as the common enemy — ^namely, 
the Established Churches — they set fighting one another. "^° 

Such was the religious environment in which the amiable 
and scholarly Thomas Campbell was reared, and minis- 
tered. It is not surprising that the first public act of this 
deeply spiritual and non-sectarian man was in the interest 
of Christian Union. His effort to unite the Anti-Burghers 
and the Burghers was unsuccessful. 

Longing for the land of freedom, especially one free 
from religious strife, and believing a change would improve 
his health, Thomas Campbell sailed for America in 1807. 
Upon his arrival in Philadelphia he presented ministerial 
credentials and was assigned to Washington County, Penn- 
sylvania, in the behalf of the Seceder Church. 

He had not been in this new field long until he found 
disunion and bickerings, and the same sectarian spirit in the 
new world which prevailed in the old. 

Friends, sectarianism is the same the world over, and 
just as long as we have sects we are sure to have the satanic 
spirit. The annihilation of setcarianisra is the only way to 
eliminate the fruits of the system. 

Thomas Campbell was not a respecter of persons, 
religiously, for he mingled with and ministered unto those 



10 Moore's "History of the Disciples," p. 98. 



The Restoration 175 

of other religious affiliations as freely as to the Seceders. 
With him the communion table was the Lord's table and to 
it he earnestly invited the ^ Lord's people^ regardless of 
creed. This gave great offense to his Seceder brethren. 
Charges were preferred against him before the Presbytery, 
whose final decision was one of censure. The Synod to 
which Mr. Campbell appealed, of course, sustained the 
Presbytery. 

Campbell continued his condemnation of divisions, and 
his plea for Christian Union, preaching in the homes of 
his friends, or in shaded groves, but seldom in meeting 
houses, as, for the most part, these were shut against him. 

It was in one of these meetings that he made the dictum, 
*'Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; and where the 
Scriptures are silent, we are silent." One of his hearers — 
Andrew Munro, a Scotch Seceder — arose and said, "Mr. 
Campbell, if we adopt that as a basis, then there is an end 
of infant baptism." 

Campbell had not considered consequences. He was 
solely absorbed with the great principle. "Of course," he 
eventually replied, "if infant baptism can not be found in 
the Scriptures, we can have nothing to do with it." Where- 
upon a Mr. Acheson exclaimed, laying his hand upon his 
heart, "I hope I may never see the day when my heart will 
renounce that blessed saying of the Scriptures, 'Suffer the 
little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of 
such is the kingdom of heaven.' " UjDon quoting this, he 
burst into tears and was about to retire to an adjoining 
room when James Foster cried out, "Mr. Acheson, I would 
remark that in the portion of the Scriptures you have quoted 
there is no reference, whatever, to infant baptism." With- 



176 The Maple Lectures 

out offering a reply, Mr. Acheson passed out to weep 
alone. ^^ 

Shortly after Thomas Campbell wrote the "Declaration 
and Address/' which was as vehement a protest against 
sectarian tyranny and as earnest a plea for religious free- 
dom as the "Declaration of Independence" written by 
Thomas Jefferson was against political tyranny, and for 
political freedom and equality. Every preacher of the 
Church of Christ should read and study the "Declaration 
and Address." 

Alexander Campbell. 

Now, Alexander Campbell, son of Thomas Campbell, 
remained in Glasgow University to finish his education. 
The "Haldanean Reformation" in Scotland, carried on by 
James and Robert Haldane — two distinguished Scotch 
preachers — was aimed chiefly at infidelity and Socinian- 
ism in the Established Church. These men contended for 
the independence of each congregation, the Bible as the 
only authoritative guide and practice of lay preaching. 
John F. Rowe and W. T. Moore state that the necessity 
and desirability of discussing Christian Union was 
impressed upon the Campbells by the Haldanes.^^ 

With this as a preparatory background, and out of this 
environment, Alexander Campbell sailed for America in 
1808, and after a perilous voyage of eleven months, during 
which the ship's company had almost perished in the 
Atlantic, he landed in New York the last of September 
in 1809, and a month later joined his father at Washington, 
Pennsylvania. Both father and son were happily surprised 



1^ Paraphrase from "Memoirs of A. Campbell,' 

12 App. a 2, 



The Restoration 177 

that each had arrived at practically the same conclusions 
from tlie consideration of religious conditions. 

In view of the Stone movement in Kentucky, Thomas 
Campbell's work in Pennsylvania, the Haldanes in Scot- 
land, and Alexander Campbell's harmonious concurrence, 
tliough each was ignorant of the other's efforts, have led 
some to affirm that all these were guided by Providence 
or inspiration. 

Similarly, they give as proof illustrations that Isaiah, 
Hosea and Micah prophesied from different places, but 
upon corresponding themes; and Jeremiah, Habakkuk, 
Zephaniah, Ezekiel and Daniel later predicted, in part, 
the same events, though each from different countries and 
not cognizant of the other's prophecies. 

The speaker is not in accord with this so-called provi- 
dential plan or theory because there are so many similar 
coincidences in history and science. For instance : Adams 
and Le Verrier worked in their respective laboratories, each 
without the knowledge of what the other was doing, and 
finally, about the same time, discovered the almost exact 
position of Neptune. In fact, before they saw the planet 
they affirmed that the disturbances of Uranus and the plan 
of the universe indicated that a planet must be in Neptune's 
position. Later the telescope proved — that they were in- 
spired or providentially guided.^ No, no — that their calcu- 
lations were according to scientific laws. 

So they who consider the real condition of the religious 
world and seeh a remedy must arrive at the same conclusion. 
It is a matter of thinking and law. 

Having mutually agreed to take the Bible as their rule 
of faith and practice they began a thorough introspection 
of their doctrine and conduct. This honest investigation 



178 The Maple Lectures 

revealed^ as it always will with siich^ the fact that they 
had not fully obeyed God. So it came to pass^ as it always 
does with such honest souls^ that Thomas Campbell^, wife 
and daughter^ Alexander Campbell and wife^ and James 
Hanen and wife were baptized in 1812 by Elder Luce^ a 
Baptist preacher. Although Alexander Campbell refused 
to appear before a Baptist congregation and relate an 
experience as per the Baptist custom (admitted by Elder 
Luce as not Apostolic)^ and would not consent to but one 
confession, "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God/' and 
had stipulated with Elder Luce that he wanted the bap- 
tismal formula to be "into" the name of the Father, Son 
and Holy Spirit, and not "in" the name, as was usual 
among the Baptists, yet from the day of their baptism 
they were regarded as members of the Baptist Church. ^^ 

At that time the Baptist Church had a human creed, 
and the plea for a return to the Bible as the all-sufficient 
rule of faith and practice soon disturbed their religious 
equilibrium. So the Campbells soon found their teaching 
out of harmony with that of the Baptists. 

Come Out — Be Ye Separate. 

The preaching of the Campbells continued more and 
more discordant with that of the Baptists, and it was plain 
that a new move was indispensable to restore the Apostolic 
Church. Accordingly, in 1827 they "came out from among 
them," and as a separate people began to preach the 
primitive gospel, and institute congregations as per the 
New Testament pattern. The movement gathered strength 
very rapidly, and especially when the "Christians" united 
with the "Reformers," to which we have referred. 



"App. G. 3. 



The Restoration 179 

Should any doubt Alexander Campbell's ability to lead 
in this back-to-the-Christ-and-tlie-Apostles movement I will 
recall two of his debates. 

. Robert D. Owen, a noted infidel, had gone up and down 
the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers challenging the Bishops, 
Presiding Elders and preachers of the denominations ; none 
of whom accepted. They were afraid. Twice he chal- 
lenged Alexander Campbell to an open discussion of the 
evidences of Christianity, but he, too, refused. He knew 
that Owen was an intellectual giant. Finally, when 
challenged a third time. Brother Campbell said, "By the 
grace of God and all the power of my being I will defend 
the Christian system against the assaults of this man." 

The debate had continued for three days when Mr. Owen 
began to repeat himself. Reminding Owen of his repetition, 
Campbell said, "Mr. Owen, if you have presented all your 
arguments and have no more to offer, please give me the 
floor, for I have much to say." Conscious of having re- 
peated himself, Mr. Owen kindly replied, 'T have pre- 
sented my arguments. You may proceed." 

For one hour, two hours, three hours. Brother Campbell 
defended Christianity and the people listened patiently. 
For four hours, five hours, yea, six hours, he piled the 
evidences of the resurrection of Jesus mountain high, and 
his audience remained attentive. For twelve long hours 
this adherent to the primitive faith defended the old Book 
and Christianity in a manner which has seldom been 
equaled, and never surpassed. It was conceded that his 
defense of the Christian religion was overwhelming in 
its conclusiveness. 

I have in my library a book, "Testimonies in Favor of 
Religion and the Bible" — written by President Harrison 



180 The Maple Lectures 

of Moore's Hill College. In this book we find page after 
page of the plea that Campbell made on this occasion. 
Mr. Harrison^ though a Methodist^, considered it worthy 
of a place in his great book. 

Eight years after his debate with Owen^ Campbell 
stepped into the arena again and debated a Roman 
Catholic — Bishop Purcell of Cincinnati. The seven propo- 
sitions were negative and threw the burden of proof on 
Campbell^ yet his was an able presentation and a masterful 
defense of the principles of Protestantism. While sec- 
tarian "divines" skulked^ Alexander Campbell put on the 
armor and successfully defended Christianity against 
Athetism^ and Protestantism against Romanism. 

Think you^ friends^ this man was able to read the 
New Testament and understand it sufficiently to preach 
and practice as the Church did in Apostolic times .^ Sin- 
cere? Was he.^ Think of the sacrifice he made for the 
truth and you have the affirmative answer. 

Christians Must Unite. 

Coalescent with the restoration of the primitive 
Church was the plea for the union of all Christians on the 
Bible and the Bible alone. This plea was an admission 
that there were Christians in the denominations^ and a 
cordial invitation to come out from among them. 

Friends^ look at this charts and these are only a few 
of the hundreds of denominations. Dare you in this en- 
lightened age say that Jesus referred to these sects when 
he said;, "I am the vine and ye are the branches !" It won't 
do ! It won't do ! No vine ever grew such branches. 

Brethren and friends^ I speak advisedly and^ as God 
knows my hearty sincerely. Hear me: We can never save 



The Restoration 181 

the world as long as we are divided as we are. Size up 
Christendom — Christendom divided into hundreds of war- 
ring sects^ contradicting themselves and each other, each 
pretending to teach the way to God — and the harbingers of 
civilization. Where's your hope under these muddling 
conditions ? 

Let me give you a few statistics — stubborn facts. 

1. The world's population increased from 731,000;,O00 
in 1792 to 1,500,000,000 in 1892— Protestants increased 
from 44,000,000 to 143,000,000 during this period. In 
other words, the population has increased more than nine 
times faster than divided Protestantism — that is, there are 
670,000,000 more non-Protestants today than 100 years 
ago, 1,357,000,000 not Protestants. 

Brother Protestant, in view of these figures — "figures 
don't lie" — where is the possible chance of Protestants 
saving the world .^ Inasmuch as there is strength in unity. 
Catholics are not anxious for Protestants to unite ! 

2. Once more: Catholicism grew from 100,000,000 in 
1792 to 230,000,000 in 1892, but the world's population 
increased nearly seven times faster, so that there are more 
non-Catholics today than 100 years ago — 1,270,000,000 in 
the world today not Catholics. 

How Can Catholicism Possibly Christianize the 
World? 

3. Both Catholics and Protestants number only 
373,000,000, leaving 1,127,000,000 non-Christians. How 
long will it take both to evangelize the world ? 

There Is Only One Remedy: A union of All of God's 
People on the Word of God. 

Jesus prayed for this Unity, "that the World may 



182 The Maple Lectures 

believe that God sent liim/' and the first step toward 
World Evangelization is this Union.^* 

The Church of Christ — restored amidst the bickerings 
of denominationalism — takes God's Word as the only. Rule 
of Faith and Practice^ and pleads for union thereon. 

"How blest and how joyous will be the glad day, 
When heart beats to heart in the work of the Lord; 
When Christians united shall swell the grand lay, 
Divisions all ended, triumphant His word ! 

"Come, brothers and sisters, and join in the fight, 
Our Saviour and Captain has bidden us come; 
Then on with the armor and dare to do right, 
. Press on in the struggle till Christians are one. 

"The prayer of our Saviour impels us, move on; 

Its words are still sounding the call of our King; 
And Paul in devotion doth echo the song. 

'I beg you, my brethren, to speak the same thing.' 

"Be faithful and true till the warfare is o'er. 

Till factions are foiled and the victory is won; 
And millions of voices shall blend on the shore. 
To welcome us enter our Father's glad home." 

— A. C. Hopkins. 



"What says the Bible, the Blessed Bible? 

This should our only question be; 
Teaching of men so often mislead us: 

What says the book of God to me? 

"Few ever study the Word eternal. 
Few ever seek to know or do ; 
Yet, there are some who try to improve it. 
Touching. God's holy commandments too. 

"What will you say at Jesus' coming? 
You, wlio Jehovah's law construe. 
Can you reply, I've kept the commandments? 
Answer the question, each of you." 



i^Jolin, 17:11, 20-23; cf. Ps., 133:1—; Rom., 12:4,5; I. Cor., 12:12; 
IT. Cor., 13: 11: I. Pet., 3: 8. 



The Restoration 183 

APPENDICES TO LECTURE VIl. 
App. G. 1. — The Names. 

That there are two separate peoples in the Restoration 
movement under two distinct names who, like the Samari- 
tans and Jews, have no dealings with each other, is evident 
from the facts. That one of these bodies is denominational 
and digressive is clear from the appended facts : 

1. The International Cyclopedia says, "Disciples of 
Christ: a denomination organized in 1827, sometimes called 
Campbellites, but prefer to be called Church of Christ." 
Of Campbell it says : "His followers increased rapidly and 
are now known as Disciples of Christ." 

2. On both the cover and title page of the Year Book 
put out by the American Christian Missionary Society we 
read, "Year Book of the Churches of Christ (Disciples)," 
with the word Disciples, you note in parentheses and spelled 
with a big D, which not only identifies and denominates, 
but differentiates them from churches of Christ not included 
in said Year Book. 

3. On page 3 of the 1916 Year Book, Burnham's In- 
troduction uses "Disciples of Christ" twice and "Disciples" 
once with a big D. He was then President of the A. C. 
M. S., and those fellows never talk amiss or without author- 
ity. 

4. Then comes Richardson's article on "The Disciples 
of Christ — Their Origin and Aim." In this he treats the 
"Disciples" as a religious body, and so uses the word five 
times — always with that denominational "D." Surely there 
is such a body. 

5. On page 22 of the Year Book there are five books 
advertised pertaining to the "Disciples," and in the back 
of the book there is a full-page advertisement of "The 



184 The Maple Lectures 

Disciples' Publication Society/' and four pages advertising 
the "Board of Publication of the Disciples of Christ/' and 
on these pages "Disciples of Christ" occurs a dozen times. 

6. Page 45 has a list of "Colleges and Universities of 
the Disciples of Christ," with "The Disciples' Divinity 
House of the University of Chicago/' of which Willett is 
Dean and Ames on the Board of Trustees^ in the bunch. 
Turn to page 62, brother^ and you will find a list of "papers 
by the Disciples of Christ." (And here let me remind 
parenthetically that since I left the "Disciples of Christ" 
and came into the Church of Christ I have learned to my 
astonishment and to the discredit of the "Disciples of 
Christ" that the large number of papers and colleges con- 
ducted by brethren in the Church of Christ are not included 
in these lists at all. Thus to make it appear that we do 
not have things of such educational nature.) 

7. Again, pages 44 and 52, we have data referring to 
the "Board of Education of the Disciples of Christ;" also 
"the National Board of Christian endeavor of the Disciples 
of Christ" — this denominational name being used a half 
dozen times. Page 58 informs us about "The Congress of 
the Disciples of Christ." Referring to the "American Home 
Missionary/' the Year Book says, "This magazine contains 
articles from the most successful preachers and evangelists 
among the Disciples of Christ;" and Editor Burnham in 
the May, 1917, number repeatedly speaks of the "Disciples 
of Christ," using the big "D" that has caused so much 
devilment in the days past. 

8. From "the Brotherhood" paper I find a report of 
"the International Missionary Convention of the Disciples 
of Christ at Des Moines in 1916." E. D. Jones introduced 
the Convention thus : "We come now to the fourth annual 



The Restoration 185 

Convention of the Disciples of Christ" (107 years after the 
Campbells declared^ "Where the Bible speaks^, we speak/' 
etc.^ and sixty-nine years after they came out from the 
Baptists and restored the Church of Christ — maybe it is 
too young to be related to them). 

9. Judge Henry, of Cleveland, spoke on the "Men 
and Millions Movement and the Disciples of Christ;" 
Professor Martin discussed "The Development of an Edu- 
cational Conscience among the Disciples." (Can's see why 
that is needed among people so progressive that they go 
beyond what is written, I. Cor., 4:6; II. John, 9, and abide 
not in the teaching of Christ.) Kershner, who used to try 
to hold them to the Book, referred to the "Convention of 
the Disciples of Christ." 

10. Dr. White declared, "No other religious body was 
making such urgent appeals to men of wealth as the 
Disciples of Christ." In this one issue of The Christian 
Evangelist "the Disciples of Christ," or "Disciples," is used 
some fifteen times, and always with that devilish "D" of 
contention. 

11. Coming back to the "Disciples' rule of faith and 
practice," on page 6, we read, "A large burden of detail 
work is placed on the office of the A. C. M. S. It is charged 
with the task of acting as statistician for the Disciples of 
Christ;" and on page 68 of the Year Book it says, "The 
A. C. M. S. herewith submits its annual statistical report 
as the statistical agency for the Disciples of Christ." 

12. Dr. H. K. Carroll is employed by the Government 
to compile religious statistics. Some one or agent in each 
denomination must furnish Dr. Carroll the data from which 
the statistics are compiled. The A. C. M. S. does this for 
the "Disciples of Christ." You can see, can't you, brother. 



186 The Maple Lectures 

that there is in reality and statistically a denomination 
known as "the Disciples of Christ"? that this new name 
which the mouth of the System has named is approved by 
the A. C. M. S. rather than the name Church of Christ? 
So don't blame Dr. Carroll or the bureau at Washington. 
You know the responsibility lies elsewhere. As the A. C. 
M. S. is the official statistician for the "Disciples of Christ/' 
a large number of loyal churches of Christ are not included 
in the "Disciples of Christ." (Many in Nasliville^ five in 
Memphis^ five in Louisville, six in Detroit, and many others 
are excluded by the System.) The Church of Christ in 
Cincinnati, the one in Washington, D. C, are overlooked 
by the official statistician. 

13. Before me is a partial list of 2,500 preachers of 
the Church of Christ whose names are not found in the 
Year Book of "the Disciples of Christ." The government 
bureau learned the fact and the A. C. M. S. dodged the 
issue by reporting "Disciples of Christ" (two bodies)." In 
view of that parenthetical "two bodies," the bureau has 
caught on, and from this time on the Church of Christ will 
be given a chance to report as the Church of Christ, rather 
than be compelled to let the A. C. M. S. report "two bodies," 
but naming only one: "The Disciples of Christ." Accord- 
ingly the Government has appointed J. W. Shepherd, of 
Detroit, to gather statistics and report for the Church of 
Christ. 

This means that those of the Restoration must line up 
for digressionism, the System of "the Disciples of Christ," 
or with the Church of Christ, where they can sustain the 
slogan, "Where the Bible speaks we speak, and where the 
Bible is silent we are silent," or stand, as some individuals 
and congregations do now, as a hybrid body or go-betweens. 



The Restoration 187 

neither this nor that. No longer brother, can any boast 
loquaciously of their loyalty to the Book and the plea, 
simply because they hold fast the name, or have not denied 
the name, when their works and worship art not as per 
the New Testament Church, but rather as "the Disciples 
of Christ." Not those who say, but those who do, are 
approved. 

"how long go ye limping between the two sides?" 

If we say and really believe that the Bible is the Rule 
of faith and practice in all things religious, it must be — it 
must be ; but if we have found that the Campbellian slogan, 
"Where the Bible speaks we speak," etc., is obsolete or 
impractical, or, as the Higher Critics say, that the Bible is 
only a document on a par with other great literary pro- 
ductions and not an infallible guide, then those holding 
such views should come out in the open and so declare 
themselves — line up with the "Disciples" and work with 
them "to beat the Devil." 

The terrible fact is, and you know it that digressionism 
is a big step, yea, a leap, toward Higher Criticism; and 
you brethren who have called us "old fogies," "behind the 
times," "kickers," "anti-advancement, anti-progress, anti- 
education, and anti-everything except ante up/' should be 
last to "cuss" the Higher Critcis ; for they but take you 
at your word. If the "law of expediency" is permissible 
as to Scriptural teaching and practice, and our "sanctified 
common sense" and "Christian spirit" arc safe guides, then 
we must give the Chicago critics and others credit and 
and honor for having worked these to a fare-j^e-well and 
then some. They are simply advancing or progressing, 
that's all. 



188 The Maple Lectures 

Brother^ the only way is to stick to the Old Book and 
pattern after the New Testament Church in name, doctrine, 
government, practice, worship, etc., to glorify the Church, 
not the societies, as the "Disciples" are doing. Why not 
come out from among them and be ye separate and walk 
in the old paths? 

Remember, the Church of Christ does not have the 
above unscriptural things, for the simple reason that God, 
in the Book, has not directed; and we feel He knows best. 

App. G. 2. — Tradition as to A. Campbell. 

There is a tradition (and I have been telling it as a 
fact) that Alexander Campbell, while waiting for a ship 
to sail for America, was walking along the street in Liver- 
pool, England, and saw a bulletin board advertising a 
religious meeting. Efe went to the meeting and heard a 
man condemning denominational divisions and advocating 
the union of all of God's people on the Bible and the Bible 
alone. Up to this time I have found no authentic historical 
ground for this story, but I do find that Robert and James 
Haldane were distinguished preachers of Scotland, who 
carried on a great reformation by contending for congre- 
gational independence, and for the Scriptures as the only 
authentic guide, etc. Moore in "History of the Disciples," 
says, "Both the Campbells had felt the influence of the 
Haldanes, and especially on church government, where 
they ran practically parallel with the teaching of the 
Haldanes." This may be the basis of the traditional story. 
App. G. 3. — Church Affiliations of the Campbells. 

Originally the Campbells were Presbyterians. The 
Christian Association was formed in 1809 as a reformatory 
movement while they were yet members of the Presby- 



The Restoration 189 

terian Church. A congregation called Brush Run was 
organized out of the members of the above Association 
May 4, 1811. (Their membership grew to 150 by 1816.) 

Upon invitations from many Baptists^ the Brush Run 
brethren in 1813 were admitted into the Redstone Asso- 
ciation. A. Campbell's "Sermon on the Law," preached 
at an Association meeting in 1816, was the entering wedge 
of separation between him and the Baptists. This was 
followed by seven years of severe persecutions from a few 
ignorant and selfish preachers; and in 1823 plans were 
laid to exclude the Brush Run congregation from the Asso- 
ciation. 

Moore says, "The whole movement at this time was 
evidently chaotic. They had launched their boat on a wide, 
wide sea, but they were not sure just where it would land." 

When A. Campbell learned of the scheme to oust the 
Brush Run congregation, of which he was a member," he 
immediately proposed to the congregation to give him and 
others letters of honorable dismissal. Thus dismissed, they 
formed a congregation at Wellsburg, W. Va. This con- 
gregation applied for admission into the Mahoning Asso- 
ciation in Ohio, and were admitted. When the Redstone 
"ring" leaders met to exclude Campbell and others, they 
were deeply chagrined to find that their bird or birds had 
flown — that is, no longer a member of their Association. 

It was that same year that Campbell began the publi- 
cation of The Christian Baptist. It is distinctly stated 
that A. Campbell regarded himself, and was regarded by 
the Baptists in 1826, as a member of the Baptist Church, 
though not accepting all of their teachings. About 1828, 
1829 and 1830 it became evident to Campbell and others 
that they would have ^q occu^^ « separate position; so 



190 The Maple Lectures 

in 1830 The Christian Baptist, which name smacked of 
denominationalism, was changed to The Millennial Har- 
binger, a name indicative of a new era and order. The 
Mahoning Association was dissolved that same year. 

Bacon said^ "Truth is the daughter of time and not of 
authority/' and this applied to the Campbells and others 
in their seeing and receiving the truth-light. Their coming 
out from the denominational entanglements was gradual 
and progressive. In the Christian Association they con- 
sidered the questions of church government, the authority 
of the local congregation, baptism, and the Bible as the 
rule of faith and practice. 

The fact that B. W. Stone, at first, used a mourner's 
bench, that Thomas Campbell made no distinction between 
pouring, sprinkling and immersion as far as they affected 
the complete obedience to the gospel, and that he even 
practiced infant baptism, and this after the dictum, "Where 
the Bible speaks we speak and where the Bible is silent 
we are silent," shows that their understanding and 
interpretations were not comparable to their honesty and 
sincerity of purpose. 

This should teach us to be more lenient and patient 
toward all today who may not see exactly as we see things, 
and to regard them, for the most part, at least, as honest 
souls sincerely seeking the truth. This is far better than 
the unchristian, ungentlemanly and merciless hammer-and- 
tongs, fire-eating, sound-and-fury method of some of our 
preachers. The Christ-like, the Pauline way of reaching 
the people is far better. 

As Irenaeus said, "Ever speaking well of the deserv- 
ing and never ill of the undeserving, we attain to the glory 
of God." 



THE SOCIETY SYSTEM- 
MACHINE CHURCHIANITY. 

(Lecture VIII.) 

"A wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land: 
the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their 
means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do 
in the end thereof?" — Jeremiah. 



"We can always see the need of reformation in others, but 
when the limelight is turned on ourselves, the case is very 
materially altered." — W. T. Moore. 



"Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely; 
according to conscience, above all other liberties." — Milton. 



Our lectures have considered the kingdom of God: its 
beginning, the falling away, the Reformation and Restora- 
tion. In our last we related how the Church — in name 
and doctrine, work and worship — was restored ; that a 
few took the Scriptures as the all-sufficient rule of faith 
and practice, and urged others to join them on the same 
basis. 

While it is true that they formed "The Christian Asso- 
ciation of Washington," it is also true that such was not 
considered a church, nor as an auxiliary to the Church.^ 
In fact, that was in 1809, and therefore before the Church 
of Christ had been restored. This Association began in 
what W. T. Moore calls "The Creative Period" of the 
movement, and continued into "The Chaotic Period." But 
long before the Church of Christ was completely restored 
and Scripturally organized this Association discontinued.^ 



App. H. 1. 
App. G. 3. 



194 The Maple Lectuties 

Just as it took years for the first Christians to break . 
away from the Jewish Church and ideas, and see clearly 
the Christian truth, so it took time for the Campbells and 
others to find the way out of denominationalism into the 
sunlight of the Gospel. In view of all the facts, I feel 
sure that this coming-out covered, at least, twenty-five 
years, which means that the Church of Christ in its essential 
features was actually restored by 1830. 

Unreasonable as it is, the Church of Christ, having come 
out from the denominations, and, launched with the slogan, 
"Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scrip- 
tures are silent, we are silent," had not gone far on her 
career until she, too, began to introduce unscriptural things 
into her work and worship. 

The first innovation was the American Christian Mis- 
sionary Society, organized in 1849, and followed by instru- 
mental music, which was used by a Church of Christ first 
in 1870 in St. Louis, Mo.^ The Christian Woman's Board 
of Missions was organized in 1874, and the Foreign Chris- 
tian Missionary Society the next year. Then came the 
National Benevolent Association in 1886, and the Church 
Extension two years later. The Board of Ministerial 
Relief was, of necessity, started in 1895 to care for the 
preachers that the system had starved out or laid on the 
shelf. These are just a few of the societies thus far, and 
tlie devil and those in power only know where the thing 
will stop. 

A prominent digressive preacher who, like many in 
his church, was sick and tired of societies, said he was 
in favor of getting the next man who started a society. A 
preacher of the Church of Christ suggested that he kill the 



App. H. 2. 



The Society System 195 

society instead of the organizer. The Bible as an actual 
guide will do that very thing. 

Innovations From Denominations. 

The iirst missionary society was organized July 27, 
1640, and the next by the English Episcopalians in 1701. 
The third society started in Denmark in June, 1721, and 
the fourth by the Moravians in 1732. The English 
Baptists organized their first society in 1792, and the 
American Baptists followed suit in 1814. The sixth mis- 
sionary organization began with the Congregationalists in 
1810. So you see when the Church of Christ organized 
societies and after the same pattern beginning in 1849 — 
after the above dates — they introduced innovations from 
the denominations and not based on the Bible. Their in- 
strumental music is traceable to Pope Vitalian I., who 
introduced it into the Catholic Church in QQQ, as sprinkling 
is traceable to Rome. 

By the induction of these unscriptural things into the 
Church pleading for a "thus saith the Lord" and a return 
to apostolic practices, they divided the people of God. 
"They.^" Who? The few who imposed such on the many. 
In the 1917 Year Book of the Disciples, p. 36, we read, 
"The F. C. M. S. was organized in the basement of the 
old Fourth and Walnut Street church, Louisville, Ky., 
October 21, 1875. There were only a few present. Many 
did not believe in the organization of such a society." Yet 
these few fastened this unscriptural thing upon the many, 
and the many were compelled to accept it or be branded as 
anti-missionary, old fogies, and other endearing chris- 
tian (?) epithets. 



196 The Maple Lectures 

Reaping What Was Sown. 

The result is (and I say it from an aching heart) that 
the movement for a return to Christ and the Apostles^ and 
the restoration of the primitive faith is blighted by digres- 
sionism. Higher Criticism and denominational mahinery; 
and today, as a penalty for these sins, there are two great 
religious bodies, which, like the Jews and Samaritans, have 
no dealings with each other, and both are divided into 
fighting factions. 

The present-day philippic against the sects, and the 
plea for all to unite on the Bible and the Bible alone, is 
sheer hypocrisy, and recalls the apothegym, "Physician, 
heal thyself." We are reminded of the bald-headed man 
who repeatedly recommended a hair tonic that he had used 
for years. 

And here at the beginning of this lecture I refer to 
the Book. In the fifteenth chapter of Matthew, Jesus 
asked the religious Jews, "Why do ye also transgress the 
commandment of God because of your tradition?" and then 
affirmed, "And ye have made void the word of God because 
of your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy 
of you, saying, This people honoreth me with their lips; 
But their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship 
me. Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men." 

When the Apostles were charged not to preach the truth 
Peter replied, "We must obey God rather than men," and 
Paul wrote, "but even as we have been approved of God 
to be intrusted with the gospel, so we speak ; not as pleasing 
men, but God who proveth our hearts." I read now from 
II. Tim., 4: 1-5. (Reads.) Let it ring in our ears, "I 
charge thee . . . Preach the word . . . preach the 
word." To Titus he wrote, "But speak thou the things 



The Society System 197 

which befit the sound doctrine." And Peter said, "If 
any man speaketh, speaking as it were oracles of God."* 
Friends, with all these Scriptures I can not do otherwise 
than present the truth. 

Demosthenes defined the duty of a statesman as one 
who foresees and foretells; and I shall not ask for any 
quarter if I fall below this standard. The minister of the 
great God should be true to the Church and the Book and 
his better self. 

"He who seeks the truth and trembles 
At the daifgers he must brave, 
Is not fit to be a freeman — 
He at best is but a slave. 

"Be thou like the first apostle, 
Be thou like heroic Paul: 
If a free thought seek expression, 
Speak it boldly, speak it all. 

"Face thine enemies, thine accusers. 
Scorn the prison rack or rod: 
And, if thou hast truth to utter. 

Speak, and leave the rest to God." 

— Galliger. 

Truth Hurts, But Makes Free. 

In view of the maxim, "It's the truth that hurts," must 
we always tell the truth.? Old General Ziegler was wont 
to advise me jocosely, "Tell the truth as long as the circum- 
stances permit." Isn't it better to live in darkness and 
ignorance and in peace, than to hear the truth and be dis- 
turbed } 

I recall an incident when I was a "pastor" in the 
Christian Church, and attempting to correct conditions. I 
laid the subject matter of this lecture before a certain elder 
of a congregation, and he advised me to giwe the lecture. 



*I. Thess., 2:4; Tit., 2:1; I. Pet, 4:11. 



198 The Maple Lectures 

I went home with him that nighty and^, with tears running 
down his face, he said, "It is all a mistake; I'm sorry you 
gave it." I asked, "Wasn't it the truth, and shouldn't a 
preacher tell the truth?" "Yes, oh yes," he replied; "it's 
the truth, but it's pretty hard, pretty hard. I have given 
much of my life and money to the Christian Church, and 
just to think what they are doing; and you tonight pub- 
lished to the Methodists, Baptists, Congregationalists and 
others that we are not going by the Bible, but practicing 
unscriptural things also." 

Yes, it is the truth that hurts, -but Jesus said, "Ye shall 
know the truth and the truth shall make ye free." You 
may think that ignorance is bliss, but I remind you that 
it is sure to be blister some time. A Paris merchant asked 
Vodacq, the far-famed detective, as to the best protection 
against burglars, and he quickly replied, "Light, more 
light." So I am going to turn on the light tonight — going 
to tell you the truth — if I am physically able, and you see 
I have an avoirdupois of 212 pounds. 

Principles, Not Personalities. 

God forbid that I should deal in personalities when 
so many principles are involved. Then, too I have friends — 
dear friends — and relatives out of the Church of Christ. 
All my brothers and sisters in the flesh who make a pro- 
fession belong to the Christian Church, and my father is 
an Elder in the same. In this connection I read from 
Matt., 10: 34-37: 

"Think not that I came to send peace on the earth: I 
came not to send peace, but a sword. For I came to set 
a man at variance against his father, and the daughter- 
against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her 



The Society System 199 

mother-in-law: and a man's foes shall be they of his own 
household. He that loveth father or mother more than 
me is not worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daughter 
more than me is not worthy of me." 

The sword in this Scripture is not what some of the 
militarists and bloodthirsty say — carnal warfare — and that 
Jesus is the author of war rather than the Prince of Peace, 
but it is a strained relationship induced by one following 
his convictions against the many. To those who would 
make a sacrifice for truth, Jesus gave precious promises; 
and taught that we are judged and punished according to 
our knowledge and ability.^ Therefore I can not do other- 
wise than tell you the truth about things. 

Do not accuse me of bringing these unpleasant matters 
before the public. I am only dealing with things that 
others, untrue to the Book and the Plea, introduced into 
the Church with the resultant conditions. When Ahab met 
Elijah he said, "Is it thou, thou troubler of Israel? And 
he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy 
father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments 
of Jehovah, and thou hast followed the Baalim."^ 

I shall not offer any apologies to the pulpit parasites — 
the slaves of the system — nor shall I bow in submission to 
the god of ecclesiasticism and of gold. I should offer my 
apologies to those truth-seeking disciples, who want to be 
true to the Book notwithstanding the digressive environ- 
ment. I should apologize for remaining silent so long as 
to the corruptions in the restoration movement. 

But, like many others in the digressive Church, I trusted 
that they would tire of the unscriptural things — these inno- 



^Mark, 10:29,30; Luke, 12; 47, 48, 
«!. Kings, 18: 16-18. 



200 The Maple Lectures 

vations from paganism and denominationalism — and eventu- 
ally put them away and return to the old paths. After 
twenty years of waiting and bitter experiences I was com- 
pelled to confess my disappointment. Even then I did 
not decide to make an open and active fight. I dreaded 
as I have never dreaded anything before, entering a con- 
flict in which I may find myself out of harmony with those 
whom I love in the Church and in the ministry. 

I knew things were wrong. My conscience, supported 
by judgment, reminded me repeatedly of these wrongs. 
But the devil said, "Be quiet, don't kick up a row. Don't 
be a kicker, but a booster. The stamp of the Church hoary 
with age is upon these things. Perhaps you don't under- 
stand. Be careful, don't get nervous ! If you can't endorse 
these things, don't oppose. They work well, even if un- 
scriptural." These are almost the exact words of a State 
Society sycophant to me in 1908. 

Conscience Compels the Change. 

But my mind was made up — the matter was settled. 
No question about it ! I knew the societies were Scripturally 
wrong, and I knew, too, that my stand against them meant 
that I, like Dan. Matthew or A. Campbell, would be 
persecuted and misrepresented. Then, what of the future.^ 
From the depths of my heart under deepest conviction 
came the cry, "Oh, God, what must I do to be saved"— 
saved from the system — saved from slavery, saved from 
the "Man of Sin" — in his latest dress .^ And the only 
answer, wafted as it were on the wings of love from the 
throne of righteousness, was, "Do the right. Oppose the 
wrong. Leave the rest to God." 

Friends, I came up through a fight with the wolf — 



The Society System 201 

poverty. That fight goes on. In my early manhood I heard 
the old Jerusalem Gospel — accepted and obeyed it. On 
that bright spring day, as I emerged from the baptismal 
grave, I decided to preach the message of my heart. That 
slogan, "Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where 
silent we are silent," had more influence over me than any 
one sermon. Indeed, this was the corner stone from which 
I builded my sermons. I s'tarted at that point years ago. 

And so, when I learned that the church for which I 
was then preaching did not respect the silence of the 
Scriptures, and where they spoke in clear terms we were 
as silent as a graveyard, my faith failed to be strengthened 
by the so-called argument of expediency and a fat stipend 
with an easy pastorate. I continued my work, but when 
I became aware of the "bossism" in the ranks," that rings 
and gangs controlled affairs, that the Christian Church was 
Tammanyized, that the society system not only winked at 
such, but creates it; I began my protest against the 
machine. 

It may be hard for you to believe and if you do believe 
all it may disgust, and discourage you with so-called Apos- 
tolic {}) Christianity, but I affirm that there is an octopus- 
like conspiracy and a religio-machineism as corrupt as ward 
politics, deep as hell, and as devilish as old Satan under 
the guise of missionary work and the spirit of Jesus. 

Jesus Meek — and Mordant. 

Brethren, I don't want you to feel that I am unchristian 
in this expose, for as Longfellow wrote: 

"Being all fashioned of the selfsame dust. 
Let us be merciful as well as just." 

And I will be just, but true to truth. 



202 The Maple Lectures 

One time Jesus flung this at the leading religionists: 
"Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because 
ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter 
not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering 
in to enter. Ye compass sea and land to make one prose- 
lyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more 
a son of hell than j^ourselves. Ye tithe mint and anise 
and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters 
of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith: Ye blind guides 
that strain out the gnat and swallow the camel ! Ye are like 
unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, 
but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all 
uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous 
unto men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and 
iniquity.^ 

Paul wrote, "Now, these things, brethren, I have in a 
figure transferred to myself and Apollo for your sakes; 
that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which 
are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one 
against the other." I read again, "Whosoever goeth onward 
and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God."'' 

The Restoration, a Revolution. 

John F. Rowe argued in 1864 that Reformation implies 
Revolution thus: "Revolutionists are agitators^disturbers 
of society. Wicked men don't like to be agitated- — jostled. 
Errorists don't like to be shaken. Consequently, when 
reformers begin to agitate the world they incur the dis- 
pleasure of that party whose crookedness they want to 
make straight, and whose roughness they try to make 
smooth. We have now too many cramped-toed taper- 



Matt., 23 : 13-27. 

I. Cor., 4:6; II. John, 9; cf. I. Tim., 6: 3-5. 



The Society System 203 

fingered, smooth-haired, silver-toned reformers, who would 
overturn the world by the art of finesse, sentimentality, 
platitudes and beatitudes. 

Some suppose that because the power of the Pope is 
broken, and the bulls of the Vatican have ceased to 
thunder, and churches have ceased to dogmatize, and eccle- 
siastic comets are despised, and creeds can no longer blind 
the liberated conscience, and clerical despotism is para- 
lyzed, that therefore we have filled our mission, and the 
great, day of deliverance is inaugurated." 

Do I falsely accuse the Disciples — the Christian 
Church? Is there a Machine Rule and bossism and an 
ecclesiasticism in said Church? Let us see. J. A. McMillan 
was the special correspondent for the Christian Standard — 
a digressive sheet. He visited the conventions and reported 
to his paper. In one of these write-ups he speaks of the 
"blooming ecclesiasticism in the Colorado convention, and 
we will do well to heed some things quietly said in some 
addresses, but the characteristic of ecclesiasticism is to 
remain deaf to voices in which there is a warning note." 
He speaks in one report of "bringing all under one 
ecclesiasticism, and to this all seem to be giving away." 

Where is this ecclesiasticism to which McMillan refers? 
In the Church of Christ or in the Disciples of Christ? In 
the latter, to be sure. Supporting his sheet, he wrote: 
'*The Standard has declared its intention to in no way sup- 
port this flagrant departure from the basic principles of 
the Restoration Movement." This shows that somebody 
flagrantly departed from the Bible as the guide which was 
the basic principle of the Restoration; and the "Disciples 
of Christ" is guilty of this digression. 

The Standard said editorially: "We must, however. 



204 The Maple Lectures 

reassert our conviction that these difficulties are inseperable 
from the ecclesiastical form with which they have been 
associated in the past; and that they will recur again and 
again^ so long as such form is adhered to. When a few 
delegates of churches are permitted to do business in the 
name of all the churches, the innocent are always at the 
mercy of shrewd schemers." 

What church is meant that has this "ecclesiastical form 
permitting a few delegatse to do business in the name of 
all the churches" and creating "shrewd schemers".'* The 
church that has the delegates and the conventions and the 
societies — The Disciples of Christ. And yet The Standard, 
with all its boasted loyalty to the truth, is an organ sup- 
porting the Societies, which have formed the ecclesiastical 
system. That is like a moral saloonist running a saloon 
on one corner and a Keely Cure on another, and advertising 
them to beat the band, while at the same time he is writing 
editorials against drunkenness, crime and poverty. 
Evidence — Internal and Inherent. 

In reply to a letter I wrote in 1910 to M. B. Ingle, a 
preacher of the Christian Church, he said; "Yes, I know 
there is a 'ring' that controls, or is trying to control, so 
that things have become intolerable, but there are thou- 
sands of men who have not yet bowed the knee to the Baal 
of Ecclesiasticism. The leaders of ecclesiastic conspiracy 
will soon be smoked out. I think I am on the inside of 
the insurgent movement, and could tell you a few things 
that you have not dreamed of. I could tell you much more, 
but I am not at liberty to do so at present." Ah, not at 
liberty! He can not hold a "pastorate" for long in the 
Christian Church except he bows to the Baal of Ecclesias- 
ticism. 



The Society System 205 

In 1912 I wrote to C. P. Butler, a son of the founder 
of Butler University, and told him about the system. 
May 17th he replied, "Where can I verify your state- 
ments? What 1 want is the truth." Upon my advice he 
wrote the F. C. M. S. for their constitution, and The Chris- 
tian Standard for information. Their replies are before 
me, from one of which I will quote later. After receiving 
these replies Butler wrote me thus^ "Yes, I'm catching on. 
Father called me slow, but I try to get to the bottom of 
things. I have come to look on the F. C. M. S. as after 
the same pattern as the Standard Oil Company so far as 
the business end is concerned. I believe the only thing that 
will prevent the 'ring' from pulling off from the church 
is to rescue the F. C. M. S. from their control, and if we 
do, I believe they will organize another." 

L. G. Price, an elder in a Christian Church in Illinois, 
wrote me thus: "I, like you, have decided that the State 
Board is a political machine, for no one can get a place that 
don't belong to the machine." That was in 1912, while I 
was still preaching for that denomination. 

R. H. Riggle, clerk of a congregation for which I 
preached six years, w-rote the inquisitors of the State Board, 
when they were doing their worst to crush me, thus : "These 
are days of big things — the steam roller, the autocratic 
combine, and must their merciless power override Jesus 
and His teaching?" 

In 1917, in reply to my son, who had written him for 
a letter to unite with the Church of Christ, Brother Riggle 
wrote thus kindly: "I am much pleased to receive your 
letter and to know that your interest in religious service 
is of the Maple kind, and trust by your faithfulness you 
shall make a record that will honor the name and be 



206 The Maple Lectures 

pleasing to the Master. Be earnest and true to your better 
self^ and as patient and forbearing with opposition as your 
father has been^ and the way will open before you for a 
noble career. I am glad to know your father is active in 
his work and am sure he is accomplishing results." The 
writer of the above, like many in that and other digressive 
congregations, is a grand and noble character. He knows 
of the existing evils, but fails to connect them with the 
cause — digressionism. 

W. E. Dudley wrote me thus in 1912: "I am fully 
confident that all so-called auxiliaries have led to the for- 
mation of an ecclesiasticism. I regard the F. C. M. S. 
and all State Societies today as being on a par with the 
M. E. District, State and National Conference." 

T. M. Jones for the past twenty-five years has been 
a preacher of the digressive Christian Church, but the 
spirit of ecclesiasticism that is flooding that body, along 
with its unscriptural practices, has so disgusted him that 
he has ceased to worship with that Church, and is now 
worshiping with the Church of Christ at Corning, Cal. He 
is only one of hundreds who have thus come out from 
among them. 
The System Specified. 

Introducing this phase, I read an editorial from The 
Christian Standards "The 'General Convention' can not 
stand for the Restoration movement. To attempt the 
advocacy of such a cause by such means would be to seek 
peace and pursue it with dreadnaughts and howitzers — to 
plead for temperance from lips maudlin with drink — to 
drive shadows from a room by intruding darkness more 
intense. The 'General Convention,' as proposed, is an 
ecclesiasticism, and, therefore, foreign to the Restoration 



The Society System 207 

movement^ not only in degree^ but in kind. And so the 
Christian Standard is against the 'General Convention.' 
And when missionary agencies lend support to that which 
is^ from its very nature^, opposed to the Restoration move- 
ment^ they forfeit the right to support. Hierarchy is not 
a matter of character or sound docfrine^ however, but of 
organization and the assumption of power or prerogative." 

Like little Bud, who ate dinner with a neighbor and 
"swallowed something awful out of respect to the hostess/' 
as he told his mother, so The Standard and the Christian 
Church are forced to swallow the "hierarchy and the Gen- 
eral Convention" — admittedly ah ecclesiasticism — and all 
their attendant evils, out of respect to the Church and, "good 
spirited brethren." 

The data I give respecting the societies is based upon 
statistics compiled from the records prior to the time I 
left the digressives, and, therefore, had access to the same. 
Of the 7,200 congregations which they claimed, 3,000 con- 
tributed to the F. C. M. S., leaving a majority not support- 
ing. This Society is not composed of the 3,000 contributing 
congregations, but is made up constitutionally of ( 1 ) Board 
of Managers, which includes the officers, and Life Directors, 
(2) Life Members and (3) Annual Members. 

The payment of $10 makes the payee an Annual Mem- 
ber; and $100 makes them a Life Member; but if a repre- 
sentative of a S. S. class, or Church, a Life Member for 
fifteen years only. There is a reason for this distinction in 
Life Membership. The Life Directors are made so by 
paying $500. Friends, you may not think it, but it's the 
truth: I never was a Director in the F. C. M. S.; I did 
not have the 500 — can show you my diminutive bank account 
as proof. 



208 The Maple Lectures 

The 367 Directors and 13 officers — 380 in all — consti- 
tute the Board of Managers, which as per the constitution 
has "power to appoint its own meetings, enact its own by- 
laws, etc., fill all vacancies, establish such agencies as the 
interest of the Society demand, appoint missionaries, fix 
their compensation, direct their labors, and make all appro- 
priations to be paid out of the treasury." (Art. VIII.) 

The officers constitute an Executive Committee, who 
"shall have all the powers vested in the Board of Managers 
during the intervals of the Board meetings. A majority 
shall be competent to transact business." (Art. V.) This 
means that seven of the thirteen can have meetings and 
do things for the 380 and publish it as the doing of the 
Brotherhood. How's that for "ring rule" ! But as a safe- 
guard ( ?) the "Board of Managers shall present to the 
Society at each annual meeting a report of the proceedings 
during the past year. The action of the Board is subject 
to revision by the Society (Art. VIII.) ; but Art. X. says, 
"this annual meeting shall be held at the same time and 
place as that of the A. C. M. S., which is as a rule when the 
National Convention meets." 

As the Life Members and Annual Members (the only 
part of the Society outside of the Board) are not so flush 
with money, or they would buy directorships, and being 
scattered are, therefore, not always able to attend the 
distant conventions, you can see they have little chance to 
hear the Board's report, and absolutely no chance to 
revise it. 

Another illustration of "fixing" and "wire-working": 
At the Portland Convention the Chairman of the Board 
of Managers appointed a Committee on Nominations. Of 
the five appointed, four were members of the Board of 



The Society System 209 

Managers and Life Directors of the F. C. M. S. "Your 
Committee on Nominations/' they reported^ "recognizing 
the faithful and efficient services rendered by the officers 
and members of the Board of Managers (four of this 
committee were of the Board — bragging inter se) during the 
i3ast year^ would recommend their re-election/' and here 
follows a list of sixteen officers — three more than the con- 
stitution authorized. The report was unanimously adopted, 
of course. 

A prominent digressive preacher wrote, "If anyone will 
examine the minutes of our general conventions for the 
past five years he will find that less than fifty have taken 
any prominent part in them. This handful has filled all 
the offices, made all the speeches, served on all the com- 
mittees and occupied all the time of discussion. 
Ye Can't Serve God and Mammon. 

According to the constitution of the F. C. M. S., money 
talks — money buys membership in the same. Lappin, editor 
of The Standard, wrote C. P. Butler in 1912, "The mistake 
that is being made is in putting money first. It has led to 
many abuses ; the placing of teachers untrue to the word, 
the wielding of undue influence among the churches and 
in our schools and colleges." 

A well-known Christian evangelist affirms that good 
brethren are discriminated against and favors showered 
upon those who roll in tlie shekels. Let not anyone think 
that I am opposed to our organized work — my opposition 
is now and ever has been against the officialism that makes 
the stream of dollars the measure of success, and bases 
its standard of membership and society upon the number 
of nickles one can put in the collection basket. 

Under date of August 6, 1915, Mr. Mohorter, Secretary 



210 The Maple Lectures 

of the N. B. A.^ sent a letter of information to Mr. Rossell. 
Referring to membership, he jsaid, "I regret that they all 
seem to be on a money basis. In this respect, we are in 
company with all the other organizations of the Church." 
My God, all the organizations worshiping the golden calf! 

Cal. Ogburn, a digressive, wrote an article for The 
Standard in 1907 and confessed that, "Our trouble has 
come from an inordinate desire for money. We have glori- 
fied gold more than God. Our Society officers must be 
accredited money-getters or their services are not wanted. 
Many of our conventions are manipulated by those who 
make the largest contributions. Gold has become our God. 
Money has unconsciously been made the test of fellow- 
ship."^ How true that "the love of money is a root of all 
kinds of evil : which some, reaching after, have been led 
astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through 
with many sorrows."® 

Some of the Special Days to collect money for the 
societies are: Education Day in January, C. E. in Feb- 
ruary, F. C. M. S. in March, N. B. A. and C. W. B. M. on 
Easter (two collections on this Sunday because the two 
Societies got into a squabble over who should have the 
day's proceed and they compromised by entering compe- 
tition for same— the chances are that the woman's society 
will win out), A. C. M. S. comes in May, F. C. M. S. again 
in June, C. E. for A. C. M. S. again in July. 

No money-getting in August. Well, that is vacation 
time, when the pastor takes his annual rest from money- 
grabbing, and the rich members are otherwise engaged at 
summer resorts, while the poorer members (and the devil) 



» Quoted in Otey-Briney Debate, pp. 225-27. 
9 1. Tim., 6:6: 10. 



The Society System 211 

necessarily remain behind to care for the pastorless con- 
gregation. But the first Sunday in September the re- 
cuperated pastor extends (financially) Church Extension. 
And thou beautiful autumnal October^ thinkest that thou 
art free from this society mammonism? Perhaps so now 
(except for the raising of the pastor's back salary)^ but 
some day when another society clamors for a day to garner 
their share of the shekels, thou, too, will be more heavily 
burdened and compelled to join the others in worshiping 
the golden calf. They make up the lost time by having 
two collections in November — viz., for the State Board and 
the S. S. Dept. for A. C. M. S. The first Sunday in 
December is the C. W. B. M. collection and the last is 
Ministerial Relief — and it sure is a relief to the society 
congregations — till January. 

In addition to the above, money must be gotten for 
the Association for Promotion of Christian Unity, the 
Temperance Board, the Men and Millions (emphasize 
Millions) Movement, the General Convention, et al., etc., 
ad. inf. 

Suppose a sinner — and a poor man — goes to church and 
the pastor is pulling for a big offering, for the F. C. M. S., 
we'll say, and the entire service is to that end; the sinner 
goes away with very little gospel. He returns on other 
for the societies instead of preaching the gospel. The rich 
Sundays, but finds the pastor raising their apportionments 
give out of their superfluity and are extolled, while he 
is ignored. This is the reason that the great mass of the 
common people seldom go to church, and give the excuse 
that "the preachers are after money, cater to the rich 
who furnish the dough," etc., and that excuse is not 
groundless. 



212 The Maple Lectures 

Fruits of the Society System. 

Let me give a common — and personal experience. The 
pastor observes all the special days and does his best to 
raise the apportionments. Consequently the congregation 
falls behind on his salary. (I recall when a congregation 
owed me $200.) I called the Board together and talked 
it over — told them my rent and grocery bills were past due 
and that the merchants wondered why I didn't pay them 
when the congregation was raising so much money. "That's 
just what I'm a-thinking/' chimed in one of the Board; 
"where's all the money a-going to? You sure do get a lot 
of it." I reminded them that most of it went to Cincinnati, 
St. Louis, Kansas City and Indianapolis to pay others good 
fat salaries. 

After much argumentation they decided to ask the 
Ladies' Aid to send out their crack beggars to solicit for the 
pastor's salary, and one of the elders would make a public 
appeal the next Sunday. When two weeks later it was 
reported that only a little was thus collected, the Board 
decided to have an oyster and box supper, and the Aid to 
put on their annual bazaar.-'^° 

The garrulous elder auctioned off the girls' boxes to 
the young fellows who, to eat with the girl of their choice, 

"See Cartoon, p. 187. 
paid exorbitant prices ; and there was not a little shenanigan 

in the affair. All this makes an impression, especially on 
the worldly, that the church is no more than a money- 
making scheme, and they are not far wrong. The same is 
true of other digressive and denominational bodies. ^^ 



^1 An excerpt from Dr. Richmond's sermon as reported in the Denver 
Post reads: "In an Episcopal Church, Mr. Morgan controlled our house 
of bishops. For years he has prevented our church from declaring her 
position on the great social and industrial problems of our age, so that 
the Episcopal Church is at the fag end of things. Our church will never 



The Society System 



213 




I hold in my hand a printed list of the congregations 
in Michigan and what the societies through the Joint 
Apportionment Committee apportion each. The pastor 
under this system can not oppose their monetary schemes 
and hold his job. To illustrate: the F. C. M. S. begins 
January 1 to work up a big offering on March 1. They 
send the pastor free literature galore; sermons for his con- 
venience, pledge cards for the members to pledge before- 
hand what they will give when the big day comes, pastoral 
letters printed by the Society, but signed by the pastor and 
sent to the members as his production. Just before the big 
haul the Society sends the pastor a letter, giving the in- 
creased apportionment and adding: if you raise it we will 



progress till about twenty-five rich corporation officers and retired finan- 
ciers and aristocratic gentlemen, who at present control our church, go to 
join Mr. Morgan up above the skies. The sooner they go, the better." 
Washington Gladden says about the same. 



214 The Maple Lectures 

put a star to your name on the honor roll; if you go above, 
it means two stars; if you double the apportionment, it 
will get you three stars. Talk about stars in your crown, 
over there — why, you can have 'em here if you get the mon. 

Between the Devil and the Deep Sea. 

Mr. A. preached the gospel when he had a chance, but 
his main business was, necessarily, "legging" for the sys- 
tem. His money-raising projects took most of his time, so 
he could not preach the gospel often. The "higher-ups" 
favored him ; they put him on the program, and committees, 
etc. He was a hail fellow in all the society circles: they 
recommended him "as being a good Christian man, up-to- 
date, and just the man to build up a good church." (See 
cartoon, p. 216.) 

Finally he got tired of giving money from his scanty 
salary — when the congregation failed to raise the appor- 
tionments — ^just to get the stars; tired, too, of being the 
pulpit-puppet for the societies, and he flunked; didn't raise 
a blooming cent for the society plutus. Soon afterwards 
the District Secretary wrote a pastor near Brother A. that 
A.'s reputation was bad — that he was "an inveterate tobacco 
user;" that a lady sang for him in a meeting; that he had 
been slow about paying his debts, etc., etc. This near-by 
preacher learned that one of A.'s members did not support 
A., and so he confidentially told him of the rumors. 

A special committee appointed by A.'s congregation 
went after A.'s scandalizers. The near-by pastor shifted 
it to the District Secretary, who confessed that "he knew 
nothing," 'only "the State Secretary informed him and the 
State Secretary has the records in his office." The State 
Secretary failed to make good or attempt to, but said he 



The Society System 215 

could not recommend A. to the churches. It was finally 
ferreted out that all of Brother A.'s misdoings ( ?) occurred 
during the time he was working for the societies^ and after 
he condemned the system the plot to oust him was laid by 
the society ''ring."^^ 

Finding that some of the good payers fell in with the 
society-plot^ Brother A. resigned. He went to another 
State and preached a trial sermon. This congregation 
wanted "a man like that who would preach the old Jeru- 
salem gospel." The Board met to consider his proposition, 
but the "joker" on the Board (the system always manipu- 
lated to have him on) suggested that they go slow in 
employing a pastor ; that he was ready to double his pledge 
to the right man. They accepted his suggestion. In the 
meantime the "joker" connected with their State Secretary, 
who advised him he had a man that would just suit them; 
and, later, he wrote Mr. Joker that he had information 
from the other State Secretary that A.'s last pastorate had 
not been satisfactory; then, too, I see that he is not a mis- 
sionary live wire. (Brother A. didn't have the stars to 
his name; that was the only trouble.) 

Unlike many who sell themselves to the system to get 
or hold a job. Brother A. said "he would give up his min- 
istry before he would sell his manhood," and eventually 
they ousted him from the society ministry. 

To show that I have not misrepresented the society 

system, I read a squib from the Missionary Intelligencer, 

the organ of the F. C. M. S. : 

"Recently a good, wide-awake city church wanted a new 
pastor. I know the five elders of this church personally and 

^2 The A. C. M. S. has nine Dept. and Church Extension co-operating. 
"The A. C. M. S. enjoys the confidence of every State and Provincial 
Society on the continent, and its co-operation with each, though of varying 
degree, is most hearty." — Year Book, p. 12. 



The Society System 217 



Ultra-Digression Explained. 

(The following explains the cartoon on the preceding 
page. Miss Miranda — who belonged to a loyal congrega- 
tion in Nashville — visited her uncle in Cincinnati. On 
Lord's Day morning he took her to what he said was a 
"Church of Christ." After an anthem or two by the 
"choir" and some instrumental music^ the pastor made his 
announcements from a big bulletin board, pointing to and 
emphasizing the various societies. This he kept up until 
nearly twelve o'clock, whereupon Miranda whispered to 
her uncle this: "Ain't like our church in Nashville — it's 
more like the Methodists. Where'd he get that baseball 
board .^ I'm bored to death. You say the Bible's your 
guide — when.? Does your pastor ever preach any.^*" 
Uncle Eli replied: "Hush, Miranda; wimmen must keep 
silent in the church, you know. We're progressive." 

During the service (.?) a lady got up as mad as an old 

During the service^ a lady got up as mad as an old 
wet hen and as she passed out gave a dollar to a deacon 
and said, "Here, deacon, is a dollar — the expense of getting 
the nickel I gave through the society to the field." 

The "pastor" announced his sermon subjects for the 
next Sunday as "Can we admit the pious unimmersed.?" 
and that they would vote on the same; and "Are we a dis- 
appearing brotherhood?" After which he talked ten min- 
utes on "The Spirit of Jesus in the Societies," forgot the 
communion, and closed the service. Miranda was not 
camouflaged the next Sunday. She found the loyal con- 
gregation true to the Book.) 



218 The Maple Lectures 



intimately. I called on them to 'put before them the name of a 
man thoroughly qualified for their work. They had many appli- 
cations, of course. In discussing different men in the office of 
these elders, one of them brought from his desk the latest copy 
of the Year Book and proceeded to look up the record of the 
preacher in question. They were particular to see what the church 
he served was doing for missions. This is one of the great signs 
of the new day that is upon us. When our elders begin to look 
first of all for a preacher's rating in our Dun's — the Year Book — 
we are going to have some preachers waking up to what churches 
really demand of them. It did my soul good to see these big 
business-men elders pull out that Year Book and handle it as 
familiarly as any preacher dare do. But how many elders have 
we who do not even know yet that we have a Year Book! Here 
is a great lesson for both preachers and elders. How are you 
rated in our Dun's? What is your present standing? 

The editor of the F. C. M. S. organ wrote a minister 
the following letter: 

"While writing to you there are two things that I have in 
mind to say. First, if you wish to fill the highest place among us, 
one thing is needed. That is to develop in your people the grace 
of giving. Have your people double their offerings from year to 
year. The Methodist Church promotes or degrades a man as he 
does or does not see that all the benevolences of the church are 
properly attended to. We do the same thing, but in a different 
way. In course of time every man finds his level. Let me give 

you an illustration. Four years ago got the church in 

to support a missionary in and to quadruple the 

offerings to every other interest. stands in the front rank 

of our ministers. Whenever a first-class church needs a preacher 

the first man thought of is . He has been called to a great 

number of places. There is no reason why you should not stand 

as high and exert as wide an influence as . You are as 

gifted as he is, and as well educated and as experienced. But 
your influence is local; his is measured by parallels of latitude 
and by meridians of longitude. A thousand people know and 

honor and love where one knows and loves and honors you. 

None of our largest and best churches thinks of you for its 
minister. If you will lead your people out into larger things; 
if you will make your church a living-link church — yau can fill 
any position among us, and your name will be known and honored 
in every mission station on the globe. You will never rise above 
where you are while your attitude toward our missionary work 
is what it is." 



The Society System 319 

J. A. L. Roming was a strong evangelist in the Christian 
Church and established congregations in some of the large 
cities, and was Superintendent of Missions in the North- 
west for ten years or more. He wrote me in 1910 this: 
"We'll see what the giants now in control will do in the 
Northwest. They began over a year ago to put me out. 
I stayed long enough to show them they could not do it, 
and then resigned to go out on independent lines, with 
none to look to for guidance but my Tord, and no one to 
depend upon for support but the One who never fails." 
Brother Roming is writing insurance for a living, when 
he ought to be preaching the gospel. The society system, 
like the saloonkeeper, wants a fellow as long as they can 
use him to thei?^ advantage, after which they will kick him 
out. 

Papers Subserve the System. 

In 1909 when I began my second "pastorate" at — , 

the Board reported that my predecessor, "Rev. C," had 
made a bad reputation. Conjointly with another church 
Board, they deided to advertise him as an unworthy 
preacher. Upon my advice they wrote the Christian 
Standard, Christian Century and Christian-Evangelist, the 
three leading papers of the Disciples, to ascertain if they 
would publish a notice of an anworthy preacher. I read 
the replies, in which these papers promised to publish the 
notice ; but when it was sent in and they saw the preacher's 
name, the Century garbled it to non-effect, the Evangelist 
refused it, but afterwards, under the pressure of two men 
who went to St. Louis, published it. The Standard refused 
point-blank. There are reasons : this unworthy pastor read 
the Standard, "it was next to his Bible" — and sent in 



220 The Maple Lectures 

"subs./' etc. Then the editor of the Standard was an ally 
of the State Secretary^ and said preacher had gouged the 
congregation for $10.37 for Mr. Secretary — the first State 
offering for some time from that church. Put a man like 
Rev. C. out of business.^ Not on your tintype ! 

I met this preacher shortly afterwards^ and referring 
to his troubles^ he said: "Let those two churches do as 
they pleasC;, but here's something that will carry me 
through/' whereupon he showed me a recommendation 
from the State Secretary. Yes, the System dictates to the 
papers, usurps the power of the congregations, and puts 
the stipendary preacher over regardless. 

In 1915 H. B. Patterson wrote some articles exposing 
the California Society corruptions and sent them to the 
Standard. In an editorial the Standard said: "We have 
received by wire a strong protest against the publication 
of the Patterson articles, signed by a number of brethren 
of California. We yield to the judgment of the good 
brethren who are at present responsible for the conduct 
of affairs. From these brethren themselves, in other com- 
munications, and from others just as worthy, who insist 
that they should be published, we have ample evidence 
that there is too much truth in the disclosures which 
Brother P. makes." 

I know a preacher who had preached for one con- 
gregation six years — two pastorates, with a seven years 
interval — and held his own revivals, with many additions 
each time;:- and yet the above papers refused to publish 
reports of same, either from him or officers of the con- 
gregation. The "high-moguls" had said, "Thou shalt not."^^ 



13 The Secretary had "sold out" the State paper to the "brotherhood" 
paper — the Evangelist — and was the censor of news-notes from his state. 



The Society System 321 

Many of the most Scriptural preachers in the Christian 
Church are shut out of their own papers^ simply because 
when the system says "thumbs up/' their thumbs don't 
go up. 

Under the Ban. On the Black List. 

Several years ago I was in the office of the editor of 
the Christian-Evangelist. He urged me to send reports by 
wire or mail. Pulling out his desk drawer^ he showed me 
a bunch of telegrams and letters,, and remarked, "We can 
not use these; most of them are on the black-list." I did 
not understand then — I do now. 

W. D. C. wanted to be a missionary, and the F. C. M. S. 
had appointed him. When they learned that he intended 
to marry and take his wife along, they investigated and 
concluded that she was not suitable for a missionary's wife 
(the President of the F. C. M. S. was a bachelor and there- 
fore a proper judge), and that he would have to change his 
matrimonial plan if he went as a missionary. True to his 
betrothed and his better self, he refused to alter his plan. 
The F. C. M. S. canceled the appointment and gave out 
that W. D. C. was in poor health and unable to go to the 
field. But he went just the same, independent of the 
F. C. M. S., and supported directly by churches and 
individuals. He has been in Japan a dozen years and 
his health has not failed. Much of that time none of the 
system papers would report his work. The F. C. M. S. 
never recognized him. 

Mrs. Ayars was an officer in the N. B. A. She was put 
on the program at the Pittsburg Convention in 1909. She 
said some things to which the bosses objected. She simply 
told the truth as to what they had failed to do, as well as 



222 The Maple Lectures 

what they had done. They called her down thus: "Before 
the convention is the place to boost what we have done, not 
to publish our failures." They finally ousted Mrs. Ayars, 
who, with other prominent women, organized the Christian 
Woman's National Benevolent Association, which was not 
up to 1915 connected with the other societies. It is sur- 
prising what the system sycophants have done to retard 
this benevolent work. I have in mj possession a letter 
written by the State Secretary of Michigan, in which he 
dastardly reflects on Mrs. Ayars. While I do not endorse 
any society which supplants the work of the Church, I do 
not hesitate to brand the statements sent out by this Sec- 
retary as unqualifiedly false. Explaining to a "friend" ( }) 
of mine, Mrs. Ayars in 1915 wrote: "Really, ministers 
that are friendly at heart to our work and in a way approve 
of it, are afraid to come out and say so for fear the 
organized State and National Boards will boycott them 
or try to keep them from getting places to preach should 
they change fields. There are those who would not for 
anything say a good word or do a good deed for our work, 
lest they might win the disfavor of Smithers and a few 
other head ones. There is one church right here that nine- 
tenths of the congregation are in favor of our work, but 
the pastor and two of his officials are opposed to it — ^not 
that they are opposed to the work, but the pastor is trying 
to please the higher authorities." 

In a personal letter to in 1915, Editor Lappin 

said: "The reason Mrs. Ayar's work is not recognized is 
that the delegate convention folks assume that the agencies 
we now have are our official agencies, and that we can not 
have others without anarchy." They monopolize things, 
you see. 



The Society System 223 

Pardon seeming personalities, but I must expose this 
"Man of Sin." I quote from letters which a State Sec- 
retary wrote to a preacher of the Christian Church who was 
exposing the tricks of the Society: "I have an abundance 
of letters from various States, which I can produce if 
necessary," The State Secretaries' National Association 
is a combination that passes from one State Secretary to 
another such clubs to hold over insurgent preachers. 'T 
wrote you before that I would not 'divulge' the ancient 
history if you conducted yourself properly now." Some- 
times that is enough to bring the backboneless preachers 
under the system. "This confidential stuff I do not take 
much stock in myself. ... I will wait just a week 
before I proceed to gather further consent to use this 
confidential matter. I will wait two weeks before putting 
the matter in the hands of the printer, when I shall publish 
the matter. I will proceed to get this in shape for publi- 
cation unless you desist from your attacks upon the State 
Society and its work." 

He has "ancient history" and "confidential stuff which 
he does not take much stock in," but he is going to publish 
it anyway, presumably to oust said preacher or prevent 
his preaching unless he stops "kickin' his dowg around" — 
ceases his "attacks on the State Society and its work." 
The crux of the whole matter was admittedly this preacher's 
attacks on the Society System. 

Evangelist Clutter admitted, "They are after me and 
every other person who dares in the name of the Lord 
to oppose their evil schemes." 

Again this State Secretary wrote, "You met one of the 
disgruntled here and gave him a bunch of your literature 
to circulate in the church, which was being done until the 



224 The Maple Lectures 

pastor stopped the circulation and denounced the 'stuff' as 
false, slanderous and misleading, and not true to facts. 
This literature does not apply to our work in this State 
at all. The only advantage in it is that it casts discredit 
upon the State work everywhere.^* You are using every 
means at your gommand to cast discredit upon the State 
work and its Secretary-. Without cause or provocation you 
have taken up the cudgel against the State Society and 
have sought in various ways to hamper the work. If your 
present course continues — if you persist in your attacks 
upon the State Society and its v/orkers — I will not lie still 
and allow it to go on without using legitimate methods to 
put a stop to it. I want to give you just one more final 
warning: If you desire to provoke us further you will 
have to suffer the consequences. I want you to realize that 
the more you antagonize us and advertise your issue, the 
worse it will be for you. I warn you just once more that 
if you desire to continue in this State unmolested, you 
must cease your present activities against me and against 
the Missionary Society." Can you imagine any power 
more Jesuitical and presumptuous? 

This preacher went before a convention and in the 
presence of the Secretary demanded a hearing. After 
thirty-six hours, during which the Secretary "shidooed," 
the preacher was recognized by the "chair" just before 
noon. He laid the corrupt doings of the system before 
them. Immediately one of the henchmen of the Secretary 
moved that they adjourn for dinner, another seconded 
the motion, and the chairman "ordered" the adjournment. 

The State Secretary, who had directed his tools in their 



1* He referred to a tract mailed out toy this preacher, in which he 
exposed the corruptions, misuse of missionary money, etc., in another 
state. 



, The Society System 225 

manipulation^, impishly and audaciously wrote the preacher 
thus : "I might have saved you your trouble and disappoint- 
ment if you had spoken to me about it. I now tell you 
again that the only j^lace you can come is before our State 
Board. I shall make arrangements for you before the 
proper authorities — our State Board." This reminds me 
of a bunch of bank robbers and burglars demanding that 
their "pal" who had turned state's evidence come before 
them — the only place to "fix up." 

Pampers Parasites — Breeds Blandiloquence. 

I give an illustration or two to prove that the system 
carries^ endorses and boosts those who are intellectually^ 
morally and Scripturally weak. I read the following from 
The Christian {?) Banner, published in the interest of the 
Michigan State Machine: 

"Where We Met the Master. 

"The Kokosing convention was a perfect blending of fellow- 
ship, friendship, spiritual communion and intellectual feasts, into 
an uplift of soul and mind and body, that will ever remain. It 
was the closest minglmg of the divine and the human. It was the 
natural and the supernatural at their best. 

"It is not possible to pick out any high mark— every session 
was a mountain top experience. We met God face to face, and 
He did not turn His face from us. Every blessing of the Epistles 
was ours." 

If that convention really was the "closest mingling of 
the divine and the human" and "the natural and the super- 
natural was at its best/' though I have my serious doubts 
about it, it was sure one humdinger; and if "every blessing 
of the Epistles" was actually theirs it was going some. If 
the God whom they say "we met face to face" did not 
blush with shame at their machinations and turn His face 
from them, our notion of the moral attributes of their god 
is not the loftiest. 



226 The Maple Lectures 

And I read on : 

"The presiding of President Garrard and his appointees, led 
by the Holy Spirit, was the expression of the God leadership. 
Even the business of the convention left a spiritual impression. 
There was nothing perfunctory, and the personal equation was 
almost entirely eliminated. It was just God with us and leading 
us. He sat in heavenly places loith us. Like Moses, we wish not 
that our faces shone, but the Glory of the Lord did not pass us 
by. This is what the convention meant to me. 

"Robert F. Whiston." 

And mark you^ this is not from the Burning Bush nor 
a holiness fanatic, but from a digressive preacher, whose 
name is in their Year Book. Imagine the great Jehovah 
sitting in heavenly (?) places with a bunch of convention 
shysters. I rather doubt if He did ! 

The State Secretary endorsed Mr. Whiston in the State 
paper thus: 

"Let *Whiston' Do It. 

"Mr. Whiston has been eng.aged by the Owosso church for the 
month of October. If some other church desires the services of 
this splendid worker and his faithful and helpful wife, please 
address him without delay. (St. Louis, Mich., for the summer.)" 

An M. E. pastor fell in love with one of his choir girls, 
left his wife and married the young lady. About this time 
lie joined the Christian Church and was recommended by 
the State Secretary to a congregation. He visited them 
and was engaged for the pastorate before he and his young 
wife had been baptized. I succeeded this man, and if 
reports were true, he was not true blue to his young wife, 
but being true blue to the State ring, they recommended 
Iiim to another field. 

Friends, I could relate the escapades of many preachers 
whom the system sujDports and "puts across" which would 
compare with Crowley's stories of priestly corruptions; 
and indicate that the "Man of Sin" has taken up his abode 



The Society S^'stem 227 

ill Protestantism. But out of respect to a mixed audience — 
some of whom are of the world — I desist with a pledge 
that I will produce the goods publicly or privately if 
occasion demands. 

An elder in a Christian Church wrote me: "We have 
never gotten anything through the State Board that was 
any account. They tried to put off all kinds of material on 
us^ and the man who did us the best work they opposed." 

In 1915 I asked a preacher of thirty years' standing in 
the Christian Church this question: "Do the best ministers 
always get the best places.^ And he wrote thus: "If you 
mean by 'best' the willingness to preach the gospel, to 
co-operate with the membership, to play open with the 
churches, to tell the whole truth to the whole church, to 
make full proof of their ministry, I must answer they 
never get anything that the State Board can keep them 
out of." 

De-Systematization Impossible. 

Occasionally we find a digressive preacher who con- 
demns the fruits of the system, while endorsing the societies 
that make the system possible, but that is like a mouse 
kicking at an elephant. The mill grinds on. 

A State Secretary bantered me thus: "You have a 
much larger job on your hands than you anticipated, and 
an editor of a "kept" paper wrote: "You attack a pretty 
big buzz-saw." Well, a fellow who has read the Rip-Saw 
doesn't mind the buzz-saw ! "It's a case of the steam 
roller grinding the little fellow to powder," confessed an 
officer in the Christian Church. 

J. D. Curtis wrote me in 1917: "I feel the force of the 
corrupt system and have said to the chairman of our 



228 The Maple Lectures 

Board that I have made up my mmd that hereafter all 
men look alike to me. I have bearded the Lyon (Geo. E.)" 
— Secretary of his State. "The fight is on^ but it is single- 
handed. While the societies are really no part of the 
churches^ they in fact practically control them. There is 
nothing on which I can take issue with you as to conditions 
within." How is that for a digressive preacher.'^ 

Another who wrote, *T would prefer that my name 
would not be mentioned/' tells of the injustice and 
tyranny of the society officers, the snarling, fault-finding 
letters to the toiling missionaries." Speaking of the Sec- 
retary, he said, "Some of his pets were not worried with 
his ill temper and bad digestion. When his liver did not 
hang plumb he had a quarrel with some one. He proudly 
carries the honor of having had more disagreements with 
brethren than any other ten preachers. He told more 
falsehoods and made more representations than any other 
and got away with the goods." 

One missionary in China said, "The arrogance and 
tyranny of the officers are a great grief to the missionaries. 
If I were sure I could support my family, I would resign." 
A certain blacklisted preacher wrote: 

"However, we have little to fear, as our family is small (only 
five children — that's all) and the bread and butter proposition is 
an after consideration — loyalty to the Plea and Jesus comes first ! 

"Yet we can see the end and expect to be 'ousted,' worn out 
or starved out, and when the times comes we, with the many 
others who have gone the same cruel way, will gladly take our 
manhood and convictions, and step down and out, but none can 
prevent us from preacliing Him who never changes — some way, 
somewhere to somebody! 

" 'When earth's last picture is painted, and the tubes are twisted 
and dried. 
When the oldest colors have faded, and the youngest critic has 
died. 



The Society System 229 

We shall rest and, faith, we shall need it — lie down for an aeon 

or two, 
Till the Master of all good workmen shall set us to work anew ! 

anew! 

"'And those that were good shall be happy; they shall sit in a 
golden chair; 
They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of comet*s 
hair ; 
They shall find real saints to draw from — Magdalene, Peter and 
Paul; ; 

They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be tired at all ! 

" 'And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall 
blame; 
And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for 

fame ; 
But each for the joy of the working, and each in his separate 

. star. 
Shall draw the thing as he sees it for the God of things as they 
are.' " 

— Kipling. 

A missionary from Cuba said^ "It is time the mission- 
aries combined against the tyranny and harsh treatment 
of your officers." Wm. Stanley wrote thus : "I have known 
that the F. C. M. S. is ruled and managed by the machine. 
Anyone not in with said 'machine' has nothing to say about 
the policies of the Society^ not even to ask questions. Our 
State Society used about 80 per cent of the funds con- 
tributed by the churches of this State on themselves. The 
churches are only asked to dig up. They fix their salaries 
themselves^, and when they desire a raise they just dig into 
the funds and get it. Easy money^ eh? I can see , as you 
say, that the Societies, both State and National, are in 
perfect accord. I tasted that when I wanted a place last 
spring." 

H. B. Patterson wn'ote: "The trouble has been that 
the people have not been on the watcli. They have been 
misled; a part of the membership have been able to attend 



^30 The Maple Lectures 

the conventions. These have been misled and deceived 
by the preachers and State officers, but the "ring" knows 
that the power rests with the people and counts on mis- 
leading them to accomplish their ends. About the same 
may be said of the National Societies. Preachers are 
lined up by ring politics on part of the State Secretary 
and churches are lined up by the lined-up preachers." 

I asked Brother Patterson this question: "Can the 
majority of preachers succeed if they expose the ring 
or system with the corruption?" He replied thus: "No. 
Only a born insurgent, a ready-made insurrectionist, a God- 
made reformer, a man with unlimited nerve force and 
unlimited courage, a man with the constitution of a pack 
mule and the determination of an anarchist can stand 
against such corruption as has of late years crept into 
some parts of our missionary work. It is a strenuous 
warfare against an intrenched foe, that is unscrupulous and 
conscienceless. The average minister has neither the 
ability, the endurance nor the documentary evidence to 
expose these rings, and without unquestionable evidence 
they will grind him to powder in a few weeks. . It's a 
battle, not for the average minister, but for the unusual, 
the exceptional, the man who will submit for years in order 
to gather material with which to expose and disclose the 
corruption of rings and systems." 

Friends, I have told the story of Machine Churchianity, 
not because I was anxious to bring before an already con- 
fused public these unscriptural and disgraceful things — I 
much preferred that others do this — but to show to what 
ungodly proportions mere human "expediencies" have 
grown; and that God's way is always best. 

In view of the large number in the Christian Church 



The Society System 231 

who, like myself for twenty years, are ignorant of the 
Church of Christ and are driftingly digressing from the 
"old paths/* I want this to be an earnest appeal to them 
to return to the "Bible as the Rule of faith and practice/' 
and help us in the re-proclamation of the plea and the 
truth. 

To my astonishment I have found the Church of Christ 
no small body. We have thirty-three congregations in 
Nashville, five in Louisville, seven in Detroit. One county 
in Ohio has twenty-four congregations who have not 
followed the society god. My prayer is that all of God's 
people be one on the Book. 

If in this expose I have not told the truth, then many 
of the preachers in the Christian Church, some of whom I 
have quoted, have also fabricated. If any dispute my 
statements, I am ready to prove same, and challenge such 
dissenter to an open discussion of the questions at issue. 
Why not get into the arena on this great question like we 
did on other doctrinal questions.^ Why not.^* 



APPENDICES TO LECTURE VIII. 
App. H. 1. 

The first of seven specifications as to the formation of 
the Christian Association reads : "This society by no means 
considers itself a church, nor does it at all assume to itself 
the powers peculiar to such a society; nor do the members, 
as such, consider themselves as standing connected in that 
relation ; nor as at all associated for the peculiar purposes 
of Churcli Association; but merely as voluntary advocates 
for church reformation; and, as possessing the powers 



232 The Maple Lectures 

common to all individuals^ who may please to associate In 
a peaceable and orderly manner, for any lawful purpose, 
namely, the disposal of their time, council and property, 
as they may see cause/* 

The Disciples of Christ, in their thirst for societies, 
organizations, etc., and misunderstanding the real purpose 
of the Christian Association, have resurrected that old 
society which served its initial purpose more than a hun- 
dred years ago and was buried. 

In the Year Book, p. 48, we have : "The Association 
for the Promotion of Christian Unity, which is now a 
department of the General Convention, was established by 
Thomas Campbell, a Presbyterian minister, of Washington, 
Pa., in 1809. For the last few years it has been going 
under the name of the Council on Christian Union, but 
henceforth it will be known as the Association for the Pro- 
motion of Unity." 

(For additional data along this line, see App. G. 3.) 



App. H. 2. 

The St. Louis congregation bought a discarded meeting 
house which had an organ in it. AVhat to do with the 
organ.'' was the question. Some wanted to use it, some 
did not, and this created strife. The matter was referred 
to a committee of Isaac Errett, A. Proctor, J. K. Rogers 
and Robert Graham. They sat December 29 and 30, 1870, 
and decided the organ should be taken out. This was 
done, but afterwards restored. So the first organ used in 
the Church of Christ came in from denominationalism. 

As to instrumental music in the worship, remember these 
facts: (1) It is nowhere commanded in the N. T. (2) Its 
adoption by the Church is not authorized by the Apostles, 



Ti€E Society System 233 

either in express terms or remote inference. (3) It was 
not used in the N. T. worship nor in said worship for more 
than 1^800 years afterwards. (4) No Christian Church 
used it for more than 600 years after Christ, and then by 
the Catholic Church. (5) When introduced into the con- 
gregations it caused confusion, strife and sorrow ; it aroused 
bitterness, contention, hatred and variance. It destroyed 
peace and harmony and brought in discord and alienation; 
it has rent asunder a once united and happy brotherhood 
and covered them with shame and humiliation. It has 
caused heartaches and heart-breakings — the most intense 
grief, distress of mind and anguish of heart. (6) It is 
used as the entering-wedge to surreptitiously prepare the 
way for the induction of other innovations into the true 
worship, and the mark of the beast which brands the con- 
gregation using same as digressive — before the court at 
least. Read what men say: 

"Musical instruments . . . would be no more suitable than 
the burning of incense . . . and the restoration of the other 
shadows of the law." — John Calvin. 

"The early reformers, when they came out of Rome, removed 
them as monuments of idolatry." — McCUntock and Strong's En- 
cyclopedia. 

"I register my protest against all such corruptions in the 
worship of the Author of Christianity." — Adam Clarke, Methodist 
Commentator. 

"It was well adapted to 'churches founded on the Jewish pat- 
tern of things' and practicing infant sprinkling.' "I presume to 
all spirituallj'^-minded Christians such aids would be as a cow bell 
in a concert." — A. Campbell. 

"The Jews had used instruments in the days of their prosperity 
. . . the Greeks and heathen nations all used them in their 
worship. They were dropped out with such emphasis that they 
were not taken up till the middle of the Dark Ages, and came in 
as a part of the order of the Roman Catholic Church."—!). Lips- 
comb. 

"Such a practice is wholly unwarranted by anything that is 
either said or taught in the New Testament."i?o6eri Milligan, 1868. 



234 The Maple Lectures 



"All acts of worship under the Old Covenant not reproduced 
in the New Covenant by precept, example or necessary implication, 
are excluded from the New Covenant. . . . Instrumental music 
is an act of worship of the Old Covenant not reproduced in the 
New Covenant by precept, example or necessary implication. 
Therefore, instrumental music (as an act of worship) is excluded 
from the New Covenant." — O. A. Carr. 

"Since instrumental music as a part of church worship is 
nowhere mentioned in the word of God, it is for this reason 
'without faith' ... is actually displeasing to God according, to 
Heb., 11:6, and is a sin according to Rom., 14:23. . . . Worship 
must be done 'in the name of the Lord.' Only what Christ has 
commanded can be done 'in his name.' Since, therefore, instru- 
mental music in the worship ... is not commanded by the 
Lord, it . . . cannot be rendered 'in the name of the Lord,' and 
on this account is scripturallv excluded from the church worship." 
—G. O. Taylor, 1907. 

The organ in the worship is a departure from the apostolic 
practice." — /. W. McGarvey. 

Admission of Digressives. 

"The introduction of the organ is no mere impropriety; it is 
a gross insult to the Lord Jesus Christ and a sin against the God 
of Heaven. . . . There is absolutely no door of entrance for the 
instrument, and he who brings it in must break down barriers 
interposed by divine wisdom. ... It is the accompaniment of 
pride, and of fashion, and of vanity, and theatre-going, and the 
like."—/. B. Briney, 1869. 

"We should not regard 'psallo,' however, as 'authority' for an 
instrument in worship, if such authority were needed." "I think 
the New Testament does not 'authorize' instrumental worship." — 
/. H. Garrison. 

"There is no command in the New Testament' to use instruments 
of music in worship." — Silas Jones, Eureka College. 

How can those with the Bible as their rule of faith 
and practice do otherwise than decline to use instruments in 
the worship? Read carefully these Scriptures: Matt., 
15:1-9; John, 4:23,24; Rom., 14:19-28; I. Cor., 4:6; 
14: 15; Eph., 5: 19; Col., 3: 16; II. John, 9. 

Brother J. E. Criner has sent me the following poem. 
(It would be very striking to have some bright youngster 
speak it at a digressive church entertainment.) 



The Society System 235 



The Organ; or Instrumental Music. 

"lis sad to think our Christian church 

Now imitates the stage; 
That preachers, too, will vindicate 

The fashions of the age. 

We make our creeds to suit our tastes, 

'Tho only one was given; 
So do we make those novelties. 

Appointed not by Heaven. 

Christ's church was instituted first, 

By Heaven's eternal plan; 
But every innovation since 

Is but the work of man. 

Our modern Christians advocate 

An instrumental praise. 
To worship God in other forms 

Than those of former days. 

Believing that a music charm 

Can every soul inspire. 
They placed an organ in the church 

And organized a choir. 

A few devoted worshipers 

Before its presence stand. 
And fancy they are seraphims 

Of the celestial band. 

Then groans this guttural deity, 
While loud their voices raise; 

Because 'tis pleasant to the ears. 
They call it sacred praise. 

The organites assert thai such 

Is of essential use. 
To harmonize their feeling with 

The sounds which they produce. 

Recourse to artificial means 

Is worshiping by half; 
'Tis like the dance of Aaron'is squad 

Around the golden calf. 



236 The Maple LECTUUEg 



I pity those whose dormant souls 

An instrument requires} 
For scripture proves that nothing but 

The grace of God inspires* 

But if we use the natural meanSj 

And thus perform our part, 
The Lord will give the Spirit-power, 

To harmonize the heart. 

Our God demands a vocal praise 

From universal man; 
And those unskilled in music's art 

Must do the best they can. 

'Tis not the harmony of tones, 

Produced by vocal art. 
Alone can satisfy our God — 

It is the praising heart. 

The voice is but the instrument 

Through which our hearts should raise; 

As words express our sentiments. 
So sounds express our praise. 

But if we cannot harmonize 
Our praise to please our ears. 

That is no reason God's displeased. 
When 'tis the heart He hears. 

Why introduce an organ then. 

An instrument of art, 
To utter human praise to God, 

Which comes not from the heart? 

Why use the artificial means 

When voice to us is given? 
It is like oflFering up strange fire. 

That never reaches Heaven. 

God judges not from outward forms. 

Though good in every part; 
Within His scales He Aveighs each soul, 

And measures every part. 

And acts as universal Judge, 
With justice in His hand, 



The Society System 237 



And in proportion as He gave. 
He only will demand. 

As proof that God Himself approves 

Of instrumental praise, 
'Tis said King David used the harp 

To chant his sacred lays. 

But if 'tis right to imitate 
The harp that David strung, 

'Tis therefore wrong to sing those hymns 
He ne'er composed nor sung. 

He introduced the harp himself. 

To glorify the Lord; 
And if we imitate him thus. 

Why not take up the sword? 

Why not strip off our clothes like him, 

Exposed to public view. 
And dance around our altar-arks, 

And call it worship too? 

When God upon Mount Sinai stood 

He drew His sacred plan, 
And framed His earthly temple there. 

And gave commands to man. 

He gave dimensions of the ark, 

And everything required; 
But gave no singing instrument, 

Nor were they then desired. 

Nor was there any placed reserved 

For organs to be placed. 
Nor yet of them in after years 

No relic could be traced. 

Till David introduced the harp, 

As he was fond of song, 
So other innovations came. 

Ere it was very long. 

The lord through Prophet Amos did 
Those instruments condemn; 

Then why should He be pleased with us 
When He disfavored them? 



238 The Maple Lectures 



From Christ we took our Christian faith, 

Established on His Word; 
Then why pollute His church, in which 

No instruments were heard? 

Nor yet Within those churches too, 

Established first by Paul, 
For in the early Christian age 

They were condemn'd by all. 

Then why should we approach our God 

In such unhallowed ways? 
Much better not to sing in church 

Than mock our God in praise. 



App. H. 3.— Man of Sin. 

There has been much speculation and many interpre- 
tations of Paul's "Man of sin" (II. Thess., 2: 1-12); and 
John's antichrist (I. John, 2: 18-22; 4:3; II. John, 4-: 11) ; 
and the beast of Rev., 13: 18. Many, especially the anti- 
Catholic exegets, interpret these as meaning the Papal 
power or system, and never applicable to any other similar 
power or system; while some make Nero, Constantine or 
some other persecuting Emperor the "Man of sin," and 
the antichrist the same or others following in their train. 
We want the Scriptural truth — and no more — and will not 
accept men's opinions instead. So let us analyze these 
Scriptures : 

First, the "Man of sin" (z. e., the man of lawlessness, 
for sin is lawlessness; I. John, 3:4) (1) was in existence 
when Paul wrote in A. D. 53, as the following expressions 
indicate: (a) He opposeth and exalteth himself, sitting in 
the temple of God, and is worshipped and setteth himself 
forth as God — all in the present tense, v. 4. (6) "I told 
you these things when I was with you," v. 5 — which was 
about a year before, or A. D. 52. (c) It was already at 
work, but was restrained; v. 7; cf. Acts, 20: 29-31. 



The Society System 239 

(2) The revelation, the manifestation, the showing up 
of this "Man of sin/' was future when Paul wrote, {a) 
This "Man of sin" was to be revealed in or as a result of 
the falling away (apostacy) ; v. 3. (b) The restraining 
power would be removed before the "Man of sin" would be 
or could be revealed; v. 7. 

What was and is this restraining power, and has it been 
removed — "taken out of the way" — even in part? Has this 
restraining power been Americanized? 

(c) The "Man of sin" will be revealed in his own 
season; v. 6. 

(3) His destruction, (a) How? The Lord Jesus will 
slay (consume), bring to nought with the breath of his 
mouth and by the manifestation of his coming (presence). 
(6) When? When the teaching of Jesus and the Apostles 
are received by professed Christians and the presence and 
Spirit of Jesus control them. 

Second, the antichrist (see above). (1) Antichrist 
means "against or instead of Christ. Primarily, the ruling 
spirit of error, the enemy of the truth of the Gospel; any 
being who opposes Christ in the high places of spiritual 
wickedness. "^ — Prof. Stebbing. 

(2) Who are the enemies of Christ now but those who 
are enemies of His teaching? And if one ignores or sup- 
plants His teachings, is he not an enemy of Christ? Who 
in high places of spiritual wickedness thus oppose Christ? 
Who today receive not the love of the truth, but believe 
lies — are there not many such professed Christians? (Cf. 
I. Tim., 4: 1-4; II. Tim., 4:3,4.) 

Third, the Beast No. 666. (1) Ingenious methods have 
been employed to make this mean the Pagan power, the 
Papal power or the Pope, (a) One has taken the Greek 



240 The Maple Lectures 

form of "Lateinos" — the reputed founder of the Latin race, 
and by the use of letters worked up the number 666 thus; 
L = 30, a = 1, t = 300, e = 5, i = 10, n == 50, o = 70, 
s = 200; these add up just 666. Why should John, or God 
through John, revert to the past and thus number the 
founder of the Latin race when this part of the Apocalypse 
seems to refer to a future beast, when John wrote? The 
following is the reason they give: 

"New Testament was written in Greek and the Roman Catholic 
Church is the Latin church. They do their preaching in Latin. 
The Apostle John wrote in Greek. The Greek did not express 
numbers by figures, but by letters, just as among the Romans, 
X stood for 10 and C for 100, etc. Six hundred and sixty-six 
could be expressed by spelling out the words in the Greek lan- 
guage, or by using the letters which were symbols for various 
quantities." 

(b) Another gives this: 

'One of the pope's titles is "Vicegerent of the Son of God." 
In Latin this is "Vicarius Filii Dei," and it is claimed these 
Latin words are to be found on the triple crown of the pope. 
By adding the numerical value of these letters in tlie Roman 
numerals, we have: 



V 


5 


F 


D— 500 


I — 


1 


I 1 


E 


c 


100 


L 50 


I 1 


A 





I 1 




R 





I— 1 




I 


1 






U 


5 






S 










112 53 501 Total— 666 

(c) But to cap the climax an American has them all beat, 
and has brought forth from his patriotic brain that the 
Kaiser is that Beast (since the war anyway). This is the 
way he does it: First, he puts down six 6's because there 
are six letters in the word Kaiser, and then the numerical 



The Society System 241 

places in the English alphabet of the letters in "Kaiser/' 
thus : 



K 


11-6 


A 


1-6 


I 


• 9-6 


S • 


19-6 


E 


5-6 


R ■ 


18-6 



666 

Really^ I like this last as well as any, though I think 
his Americanism has run away with his reason. 

Without dealing specifically with the "Man of sin/' 
the antichrist and this beast, I give a generic view of all. 

1. As the sin against the Holy Spirit was not one single 
act of the Jews (though such may have been the consum- 
mating act), but a condition caused by a series of acts, so 
I think that there were human principles diametrically 
antagonistic to the teaching and the spirit of the Prince of 
Peace and his Apostles. 

Sometimes these human principles are systematized and 
the adherents organized so that Paul's apocalyptic language 
in which they are personified as the "Man of sin" most 
fittingly applies. The same false principles and deceived 
adherents are, as John pictures them, antichrist. In other 
words, Paul and John predict and personify false principles 
organized rather than individuals as representatives of the 
antichristian teaching and systems. 

Accordingly, I can see the "Man of sin," the antichrist, 
the beast, in the autocratic governments from Rome down; 
in the plutocracies and autocracies of today; in the mili- 
tarism which always compels violations of the law of Christ.' 
And I can see, with Daniel, the kingdom of Christ smiting 
and breaking in pieces and consuming (slaying) all these 



242 The Maple Lectures 

kingdoms, or rather the underlying human principles, 
broken to pieces and becoming like the chaff of the summer 
threshing floors. Then the kingdoms under the whole 
heaven shall be given to the people of the saintfi, and the 
saints shall receive and possess the kingdom. (See Dan., 
2: 34, 35, 44; 7:18, 22, 27, and Chart of Daniel.) 

I can see this same lawless one — the system disregard- 
ing or transgressing Christ's law — in the ecclesiastical sys- 
tems of the denominations as well as in the Romish hierarchy, 
and the digressive system of the Disciples of Christ. I have 
been in digressive conventions where the "Man of sin" was 
the real chairman, and the man in the chair a mere 
camouflage. 

If certain characteristics mark the Papal hierarchy as 
the "Man of sin," won't the same earmarks brand the 
Protestant systems as the "Man of sin"? Too many 
Protestants are prone to pray, Pharisee-like, "God, we 
thank thee that we are not as the rest of religionists, or 
even as the Catholics," but I say, in view of the corrupt 
systems among Protestants, the Catholics may go down 
justified rather than they — because the former are sup- 
posed to be more free to live up to the light, while the 
Catholics are the ignorant slaves of the darkness. 

This "Man of sin" must be revealed — shown up, mani- 
fested to all — or he will never be destroyed by the word or 
breath and presence of Jesus. Somebody must cut loose 
from the old human way and without fear or favor present 
the truth, regardless of the consequences. "Ye shall know 
the truth and the truth will make you free," has never 
abrogated as yet. 

The purpose of these lectures, and especially the last, 



The Society System 243 

is to do my part in revealing tliis "Man of sin/' trusting that 
the word of Jesus will destroy him in time. 

May I ask you to read carefully and prayerfully 
K])h., 3:10 and 6: 10-13? 



SOME THINGS FOR THE PHYSICAL MAN. 



(Note. — In our labors of more than two years with 
numerous congregations we have made many good friends, 
been treated royally, and have had lots of good things to 
eat, generally more than the preacher should have for his 
stomach's sake. Occasionally Mrs. Maple has begged from 
the good sisters recipes, and upon request she appends a 
few here. These come from the following cities: Cincin- 
nati, Newcomerstown, Cambridge, Athens, Magnetic 
Springs, Opperman, Coshocton, Hemlock, Portsmouth and 
Sciotoville of Ohio; Mentone, Paoli, Trinity Springs, 
Williams and Elnora of Indiana; Parkersburg, Fairmont 
and Littleton of West Virginia; Luther, Flint and Detroit 
of Michigan, ad Washington, D. C.) 

"Nothing makes the earth so spacious as to have friends at a 
distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes." — Thoreau. 

"To move John you must make your fulcrum of solid beef and 
pudding; an abstract idea will do for Jonathan." — Oliver Wendell 
Holmes. 

"Whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no questions for 
conscience' sake." — Paul. 



Corn Light-Bread. — Make mush with two cups corn meal 
and boiling water, add a little salt, then cold water enough to 
make luke warm. Now thicken with meal until it is about like 
cake batter, cover over top with dry meal, cover vessel closely 
and set in a warm place over night. In the morning this should 
be raised — it has a slight sour smell. Then add a little more 
salt, one-quarter cup melted lard, one-half cup sugar or a little 
molasses, a handful of flour, stir up real well and bake about 
forty minutes in a well greased pan. — Mary Cummins Gibson. 
(Southern Lady). 

Brown Bread. — One cup sour milk, one cup flour, one cup 
graham flour, one-half cup molasses, one teaspoonful soda, one 



Some Things for the Physical Man 245 



teaspoonful salt, two tablespoonfuls melted lard. Use tin pans, 
fill half full and steam. Raisins may be put in if desired. — Sarah 
Drug g an. 

Bran Gems. — Two cups bran, one cup wheat flour, one tea- 
spoonful soda, one heaping teaspoonful baking, powder, a little 
shortening, two tablespoonfuls sugar, one-half teaspoonful salt 
and buttermilk, enough to make a soft dough. Bake in gem pans 
about one-half hour. Raisins may be used in these gems if de- 
sired. — Mary Pinney. 

Laxative Drop Cakes.— Dissolve one level teaspoonful soda 
in one tablespoonful warm water, and stir it into one-half cup 
molasses. Add one-half cup sugar, two tablespoonfuls melted 
shortening, one-half teaspoonful salt, one cup sour milk and 
enough equal parts of graham flour and rolled oats to make a 
stiff batter. Stir in one-half cup chopped raisins or dates. Drop 
small spoonful on buttered pan and bake. — Virginia Wilkes. 

Lemon Crackers. — One cup lard, two cups sugar, five cents 
worth of lemon oil and five cents worth of baker's ammonia. 
Dissolve ammonia in one cup milk. Add enough flour so dough 
can be rolled. Roll quite thin and bake in a hot oven. — Mrs. 
Frank Angidsli. 

Dropped Cookies. — One-half cup butter, one cup sugar, two 
eggs, one-half cup milk, one-half cup molasses, three cups flour, 
two teaspoonfuls baking powder, one teaspoonful cinnamon and 
one-half teaspoonful cloves. Beat butter and sugar to a cream, 
add the well beaten eggs, then the milk, molasses and lastly the 
dry ingredients sifted together. Drop by spoonfuls on ^-reased 
pans a distance apart. Bake ten minutes in a moderate oven. 
— Grace Bachman. 

Doughnuts. — One and one-half pints buttermilk, one cup 
sugar, one teaspoonful soda, one egg and one tablespoonful lard 
(heaping). — Cyntliia Miller. 

Lemon Pie. — One cup sugar, two tablespoonfuls flour, yolks 
of three eggs, j'uice and grated rind of two lemons and one cup 
boiling water. Cook in double boiler. Have pie shells ready and 
fill with this mixture. Beat whites of two eggs to a stiff froth 
with two tablespoonfuls sugar, cover top of pie, return to oven 
and brown slightly. — Mrs. H. C. Burton. 

Chocolate Pie. — Yolks of two eggs, one-half cup sugar, one 
cup milk, two tablespoonfuls cocoa, and cook all together and 
thicken with one tablespoonful flour. Put into baked shell. Use 
the beaten white of eggs on top. — Mrs. Shaio. 

Butterscotch Pie. — One cup brown sugar, two tablespoonfuls 
flour, one tablespoonful butter, yolks of two eggs, and one cup 
milk. Cook until thick and pour into a baked crust. Beat the 
whites of two eggs, add one tablespoonful sugar, cover pie and 
let brown. — Mrs. Wm. Ozenbaugh. 



246 The Maple Lectures 



Beef Pie. — Cut cold beef into small pieces, cover with hot 
water, add one small onion chopped, a sprig of parsley, one-half 
teaspoonful kitchen boquet. Cook forty minutes, thicken the 
liquid, add salt and pepper, four quartered and parboiled 
potatoes. Turn into greased baking dish and cover with biscuit 
mixture and bake in a hot oven. — E-ffie Newman. 

Potato Cake. — One-half cup butter, two cups sugar, one 
cup hot mashed potatoes, one cup chopped nuts, one cup sweet 
milk, two cups flour, four eggs well beaten, one-half cup cocoa 
and one teaspoonful each of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg; three 
teaspoonfuls baking powder. Bake in layers or a loaf. — Mrs. Ida 
G. DoIIens. 

White Cake. — Put whites of two eggs in cup, add enough 
butter to make cup one-half fidl, then finish filling cup with milk. 
Put one and one-half cups flour, one cup sugar, two teaspoonfuls 
baking powder in sieve. Mix all together for five minutes, flavor 
to suit taste. — Lena StaUsmith. 

Eggless Fruit Cake. — One cup sugar, one-half cup butter, 
one cup sour milk or buttermilk, one teaspoonful soda, two cups 
flour, one cup raisins and one teaspoonful each of cinnamon, 
cloves and nutmeg. — Mrs. T. F. Campbell. 

Spice Cake. — One cup sugar, one cup flour, one teaspoonful 
baking powder, (stir all together). Melt piece of butter the size 
of a walnut, put in a measuring cup and break an egg in it and 
finish filling cup with sweet milk. Beat all together three or 
five minutes. Bake in two layers or a loaf. Spices added makes 
it a good spice cake, cocoa used instead of spices makes it a good 
devil's food cake. — Stella Stalcup. 

Sweet Cream Cake. — Put two eggs in cup, beat and fill up 
the cup with sweet cream. One cup sugar, two cups flour and 
two teaspoonfuls baking powder, and a little salt and vanilla. 
— Mrs. Elmore Miller. 

War Cake. — One cup sug.ar, one cup hot water, one cup 
raisins, one-third cup lard; let this all boil three minutes and 
cool. Add one teaspoonful soda in one-quarter cup warm water, 
two cups flour, one teaspoonful baking powder, spices and salt. 
— Bernice O' Toole. 

Apple Sauce Cake. — One rounding tablespoonful butter, one 
cup sugar, one egg, one cup apple sauce (sweetened), two cups 
flour, one teaspoonful soda and one teaspoonful cinnamon. — Stella 
Valentine. 

Graham Fruit Cake.— One cup sugar, one cup sour milk, 
one cup wheat flour, one cup graham flour (sifted twice), one 
cup raisins. Add cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg to suit taste. One 
tablespoonful melted butter, one level teaspoonful soda. — Rose 
Campbell. 

Mayonnaise Dressing. — Three-quarter cup olive oil, three 
teaspoonfuls vinegar, one teaspoonful salt, a little pepper and 



Some Things for the Physical Man 247 



one egg. Mix well, keeping all as cool as possible. — Abbie Monical. 

Fruit Salad Dressing. — Two eggs, juice of two lemons, two 
tablespoonfuls sugar and one-half teaspoonful salt. Beat eggs and 
seasoning until whites and yolks blend, add one-quarter cup 
water and the lemon juice. Cook until smooth. When used, 
add one-half cup whipped cream. — Mrs. Adam Ault. 

Waldorf Salad. — Nice tart apples, fresh celery and English 
walnuts all cut into small pieces and covered with mayonnaise 
dressing. — Fayette Rowe. 

Fruit Salad.— Four bananas, two oranges, one cup chopped 
pineapple, one-third cup English walnuts and three-quarter cup 
sug«ir. Put all together and let stand one hour before serving. 
— 3Irs. C. V. Eagon. 

Japanese Salad. — One tablespoonful chopped celery tops, 
four tablespoonfuls chopped green peppers (or grated onion), one 
tablespoonful chopped parsley, two tablespoonfuls chopped pimen- 
tos, one cup rice, one cup salad dressing or one-half cup mayon- 
naise. The rice is washed, boiled and blanched as usual. Mix with 
the other ingredients and serve on shredded lettuce. Garnish with 
stuffed olives cut in rings. — Mrs. J. N. Gaskins. 

Green Bean Salad. — Soak one cup green beans over night, 
drain, add fresh water and boil until tlioroughly done. When 
cool add one small chopped onion, mayonnaise dressing, seasoned 
rather highly with salt, pepper and mustard. — Naomi Henderson. 

Hot Cabbage Salad.— Shred and boil cabbage till tender. 
Drain off the water and add lump of butter; let stand about 
ten minutes on back of range. Mix flour, sugar, one egg, salt 
pepper, sweet cream and vinegar in order given, pour over cab- 
bage and cook five minutes. — Pedrl E. Maple. 

Corn Salad. — Twelve large ears of corn, two red mango 
peppers, four onions, two cups sugar, three pints vinegar, three 
pints water and one-quarter cup salt. Boil twenty minutes, then 
add dressing made of five tablespoonfuls mustard, one and one- 
half tablespoonfuls tumeric and two tablespoonfuls flour dis- 
solved in vinegar. Boil twenty minutes longer and can. Will fill 
twelve pint cans. — Lucy Tharp. 

Beet Salad. — One quart cooked beets chopped, one quart 
chopped raw cabbage, two cups sugar, one cup grated horseradish, 
two tablespoonfuls salt and one-quarter teaspoonful cayenne pep- 
per. Cover all with good vinegar and can hot. — Mrs. J. C. Wilkes. 

Pepper Hash. — Two dozen mango peppers (nice to have 
equal number of red, yellow and green ones), one dozen onions, 
two medium sized cabbages. Chop each one separately, put to- 
gether, salt to taste, let stand a while, then drain well. Add one 
cup sugar, three teaspoonfuls celery seed, five cents mustard 
seed and enough vinegar to cover. Seal in cans without cooking. 
— Mrs. Homer Rqbberts. 



248 The Maple Lectures 



Cucumber Relish. — Two dozen cucumbers pared and seeds 
removed, and cucumber cut into small squares. Add twelve 
onions cut fine. Salt to taste and let stand twenty minutes. Boil 
one quart vinegar and put into it; one teaspoonful celery seed, 
two teaspoonsful white mustard seed, two cups brown sugar, 
one jar of prepared mustard. Squeeze out the onions and 
cucumbers and put them into the hot vinegar. Let boil good, 
then seal in glass jars. — Mrs. Mae Dunington. 

Green Tomato Pickles. — Two gallons ;of sliced tomatoes 
makes one gallon of pickles. Slice tomatoes and salt by layers 
and let stand over night. Use one-half vinegar and one-half 
water, put in spices and sugar to taste, but no salt. Cook about 
one-half hour. — Mrs. C. W. Davis. 

Escalped Tomatoes. — Use the thick part of a can of 
tomatoes. Add one-half of a small onion, a little sugar, red 
pepper, salt and butter. Place in baking dish a layer of the 
above, then a layer of cracker crumbs alternately until all is 
used. Bake one-half hour. — Mary Butts. 

Meat Loaf. — One and one-half pounds ground beef, one-half 
pound pork, two eggs, one small onion, cracker crumbs, salt and 
pepper, and a little sweet milk. Place in roaster, dot with butter 
and surround with about two cups of water. Bake in a slow 
oven. — Frances Garber. 

A RECIPE FOR SCANDAL. 

Take a grain of falsehood, a handful of runabout, and same 
quantity of limber-tongue, six sprigs of back-bite and a spoonful 
of don't-you-tell-it. Add a drop of agony and a little discon- 
tent and jealously. Strain it through a bag of misconstruction, 
cook in a meddlesome bottle, hang it on a skein of street yarn 
and shake well before using. — (Selected). 

SUNDAY SICKNESS AND ITS SYMPTOMS. 

The attack comes on suddenly every Sunday: No symptoms 
are felt Saturday night; the patient sleeps well, eats a hearty 
breakfast, but about 9 A. M. the attack comes on and con- 
tinues till noon, when the patient feels easy and eats a hearty 
dinner. In the afternoon he is able to take a walk; but about 
7 P. M. he has another attack and has to stay at home. Retires 
early, sleeps well and rises Monday morning refreshed and able 
to go to work, with no further symptoms of the disease until 
next Sunday. 

A REMEDY. 

On Sunday rise at 7 A. M., use plenty of cold water. Then 
mix and take internally a dose composed of equal parts of the 



Some Things for the Physical Man 249 



following ingredients: namely, will, push, energy, determination, 
and self-respect for the Lord's day. Stir well; add a pinch of 
love to make it sweet. 

Repeat the dose every 3 minutes until Bible School time. — If 
the day is stormy an external application of overshoes, rubber 
coats and umbrellas will be beneficial. Come and let us see if it 
helps you. — (Selected). 



INDEX 



Ability of Campbell, A 179 

Acts 2:38 172 

Act, Draft 47-58 

Adventists 155 

Aid, Ladies' 213 

Antioch, Controversy at 94 

Peter and Paul at 94 

Apostasy, Foretold 121 

Apostolic Succession 166, 167 

Apologies in Order 199 

Association, Secretaries 223 

Christian 188,193,231 

Autocracy 164 

Authority 167 

Drummond on 168 

Romish 221-225 

Satan's 28. 29 

Auricular Confession 142 

Ayers, Mrs 221 

Banner, Christian 225 

Baptism, Infant.. 117, 118, 126, 175, 190 

References on 162 

Baptists, The 154 

Baptists and Campbell. .. .178, 189, 190 

Baptism of Campbells 178 

Barnabas and Paul 90 

Bazaar 213 

Bible, Poems on 148, 182 

Huxley on 170 

Reformers Stood for 148, 169 

Rule of Faith and Practice. .175, 177 

Blacklisted 221 

Branches and Vine 157, 180 

Brethren, United 155 

Brush Run 189 

Bucks the System 227 

Butler on Denominational Ma- 
chine 205 

Buzz saw 227 

Burrus and Seneca 97, 112 

Campbell, Thomas 173 

Baptism of 178 

Church Membership of 188 

Charges Against 175 

Campbell, Alexander 176 

Campbell and Haldanes 176 

Baptism of 178 

Baptists 178, 189, 190 

Ability— Debates 179, 180 

Owen Debate 179 

Tradition 188 

Catholicity, Edict of 121 

Celibacy 141 

Catholic Church, Divides 139, 140 

Greek and Roman 140 

Statistics 181 

Christian Union 174, 18.0, 182, 196 

Christian Banner 225 

Christian Standard 203,204 



Christian Association ....188, 193, 231 

Christmas 136 

Chronology and Eras 84,101 

Christianity and Paganism 123-125 

Christian Science 156 

Christ's Kingdom: 

Began 61 

In Miracles 52 

In Jerusalem 17 

Prophecies 67-71, 160 

Men's Opinions 62-67 

Scriptures on 73-75 

Church Controversy 92 

" Confirmed 98, 99 

" of Christ 108 

" and Hades 158 

" Growth of 109 

" Restored 194 

" No Small Body 231 

" Divided 195 

" and Congregations 20, 35 

" Ideal 165, 166 

" of England 151, 152 

Circumcision 91 

Clubs 223, 224 

Clutter 223 

Coincidences in Science 177 

Communism 85 

Convention, State 225 

" General 206 

Conscience Compels 200 

Confession, Auricular 142 

Condition of Christendom 156-158 

Constantine 120 

" Edict of 121 

Sign of the Cross 121 

Congregation— Church 20 

" Hunt on 35 

Conversion 39 

Council of Nice 121 

" The Second 134 

" of Chalcedon 129 

" of Jerusalem 91 

Creation Story 16 

Criner, on Music 234 

Cross, Sign of 121 

Criticism" 37 

" Higher 196 

Curtis 227 

Days, Special 210 

" of Week 1.16 

Death, Paul's 97 

Demosthenes 197 

Denominational Machinery 196 

Debates, Campbell's 179, 180 

Declaration and Addresses 176 

Dead, Prayer for 123 

Definition of Miracle 40,46,56,57 

Did Hades Prevail? 158 



252 



The Maple Lectures 



Divides, Catholic Church 140 

Directors, Missionary Society 207 

Dilemma, The Pastor's 213 

Dowieism 156 

Draft Act 47, 58 

Drummond on Authority 168 

Easter 137 

Ecclesiasticism 203 

" Ingle on 204 

" Butler on 205 

Edict of Catholicity 121 

Ekklesia 20 

Elements of Kingdom 21,43 

Eras and Chronology 84,101 

Evolution, Lost Link 50 

" Pithecanthropus Erectus.. 50 

" Socialistic 164, 165 

Experiences 200, 212, 219 

Expectations, Messianic 13 

Faith 39 

Fathers, Writings of 116 

Fellowship, Right Hands of 93 

Fixing 208 

Foundation of Kingdom 21,22 

Friends, The 154 

Genesis, Notes on 29-32 

General Convention 206 

Generation, Spontaneous 50 

Gift of Tongues 1(M-108 

God and Nature 15, 16 

Growth of Church 115, 135 

Hades 158 

Haldanean Reformation 176 

Harbingers 86-90 

Henry VHI 151-152 

_" Founds Church of England 152 

Higher Criticism 196 

Hunt on Church 35 

Huss 145 

Huxley, on Bible 170 

Ideal Church 165, 166 

Ignorance of Truth 197 

Ignatius 117 

Infant Baptism. . .117, 118, 126, 175, 190 

Illustrations by Magic 42,43 

Imprisonments of Paul 96 

Images, Worship of . ._ 134, 126 

Ingle on Ecclesiasticism 204 

Intelligencer, Missionary 215 

Innovations 194 

Indulgences 148 

Inquisitions 128 

Incense, Burning of 123 

Inspiration 16, 177 

Irenaeus 117 

Jerusalem Council 91 

Joke on Moore, Ira C 137 

Joker, The 215 

Justin, Martyr 117 

Kingdom, Christ's, 

Celestial, Not Temporal 13 

Jewish Conception of 14 

Congregation, Church 20 



Elements of 21, 158 

Foundation of 21, 22 

Subjects of 23, 24 

Law of 24 

Began, in Jerusalem 61, .77 

Men's Opinions of 62-67 

Prophecy Concerning 160, 67-71 

Scriptures on 73,75 

Kingdoms, Nature's 18 

" Religious, Began 51,52 

" World 61, 71, 79, 80 

Ladies' Aid 216 

Law of Kingdom 25, 26 

Letters 222 

LeVerrier and Adams 177 

Lexington Meeting 173 

Lost Link of Evolution 50 

Logos 33, 34 

Luther 148-150 

Lutherans 150 

Magic 42, 43 

Mammonism 209-211 

Mark, John 95 

Man of Sin 192, 223, 226, 238-243 

Machinery and Matrimony 195,221 

Machine Rule 203-209, 229, 230 

Butler on ....205 

Ingle on 204 

Riggle on 205 

Materialism vs. Spirituality 11,12 

Messianic Expectations 13 

Memra Logos 33, 34 

Menno Simon 153 

Mennonites 153 

Methodists 154 

Miracles 40 

Definition of 40, 46, 56, 57 

Purpose Accomplished 55 

Missionary Societies 194 

Directors 207 

Fruits of 212 

Papers Subserve 219 

Moore, Ira C, Joke on 137 

Mohammed 133 

Mormons 1^5 

Months, Names of 137 

Music, Instrumental 133, 232-234 

Mysteries of Nature 43-45 

Name, Divine 109-112 

" Not All 168 

" Disciples of Christ 183-187 

" Church of Christ 186 

Nature's Kingdoms 16 

Nature and Miracles 48 

" Mysteries of 43-45 

Nero 97-112 

New Testament Written 99, 100 

New Lights 171-173 

Nice, Council of 121 

" Second of 134 

Origin of Sprinkling 119 

Origen H^ 

Orthodoxy 157, 158 



Index 



253 



Our Plea and Science 33 

Owen 179 

Pagan Days 124, 125, 137 

' Customs 124 

" Practices 126, 134 

Papers Subserve 219 

Parasites 225 

Patterson 220, 229, 230 

Paul Arrested 96 

" Tried 96 

" Imprisonments 96 

" Prison Writings 96,97 

" Death 97 

Persecutions 115-117, 163 

" Predicted 83 

Peter and Paul at Antioch 94 

Phenomenon Unaccountable 45 

Philip and Peter 89 

Pithecanthropus Erectus 50 

Philo and Plato 33,34 

Plutocracy 164 

Poems 197, 228, 235 

Pope— "Papa" 128 

" First 130 

" Peter Not 130, 131 

Presbyterians 153 

Principles, Not Personalities 198 

Prophecy 171 

" Concerning Kingdom.. 160, 67-71 

Protestant Episcopal Ch. of A 154 

Providence 176, 177 

Purgatory, Prayer for Dead 123 

References on Baptism 162 

Religio-Political System 127 

Reformers for Bible 148, 169 

Reformed Episcopal Church 154 

Reformation, Stepping Stones 164 

Renaissance 170 

Revolution 202 

Recipes 244 

Right Hands of Fellowship 93 

Riggle 205 

Rip-Saw and Buzz-Saw 227 

Roman Catholic Church Began... 140 

Roming 219 

Romish Authority 221-225 

Roosevelt 125, 154 

Rule of Faith and Practice, 

175, 177, 178 



Rule, Machine 203-209, 229, 230 

Satan's Authority 28, 29 

Savonarola 146 

Scandal, Recipe for 248 

Science and Scriptures 15 

" and Our Plea 33 

Scriptures on Kingdom 73-75 

Scribes and Pharisees 202 

Sectarianism 164 

Secretaries' Association 223 

Socialistic Evolution 164, 165 

Societies, Missionary 194 

Special Days 210 

Spiritual vs. Materialism 11, 12 

Spontaneous Generation 50 

Sprinkling, Origin of 119 

Some Things for Physical Man.. 244 

Statistics 181 

State Board 205, 215 

Standard Oil Co 205 

Stanley 229 

Steam Roller 227 

Stone, "New Lights" 171-173 

Meets Campbell 173 

Lexing^ton Meeting 173 

Succession, Apostolic 166, 167 

Temple 27 

Tertullian 118 

Tetzel 148 

Tongues, Gift of 104-108 

Tradition 188 

Transubstantiation 142 

Troubler of Israel 199 

Union of Church and State 128 

Universalism 155 

United Brethren 155 

Unitarians 155 

Valentine's Day 137, 138 

Vine and Branches 157, 180 

Vodacq 198 

Waldenses 159 

Week, Days of 136 

Wesley, John 153 

Wessel 147 

Wiclif 144 

Word and Work 28 

World Kingdoms 61, 71, 19, 80 

Worship, The 134 

" of Images 126, 134 



254 The Maple Lectures 

Scriptural References in the Lectures 



Genesis: 

3:15 62 

12:1-3 12 

17:10-14 62 

Exodus: 

2:23-25; 3:7-9 51 

3:21,22 11 

4:1 51 

11:2, 3;12:35.36 11 

20:4,5 135 

32:2,4,21-24 11 

Leviticus: 
16:20-22 12 

Numbers: 
21:8,9 12 

Joshua: 
24:2,3 12 

L Samuel: 
8:19,20 12 

L Kings: 

10:20,23 12 

18:16,18 173 

Psalms : 

68:31 89 

110:2 76 

118:22 22 

133:1 182 

Isaiah: 

2:2,3 26, 68, 76 

6:9, 10 39 

8:14 22 

28:16 22 

54:13 24 

62:1 68 

Jeremiah: 
31:31-34 24, 26, 69 

Daniel: 

2:1-45 13, 62, 70 

5:28 72 

7:1 70 

7:18, 22, 27 165 

Joel: 
2:32; 3:16 76 

Obadiah: 

21 76 

Micah: 

4:1 26, 68 

Zechariah: 

14:8 76 

Matthew: 

3:1-2, 11, 13, 17, 

IZ, 85, 153 



4:17, 23 1i, 76 

5:10, 19, 25-34, 43-45, 

25, 54, 84 

6:10, 24 74, 86 

8:10-13, 20, 23-34, 

19, 39, 48, 53 

10:5, 10," 19, 20..41, 74, 85 

10:34, 37 198 

12:32 123 

13:15, 18, 22 21, 39, 86 

13:29, 40, 49 123 

15:1-9 196 

16:18 20, 21, 144 

16:18-21, 28 74, 129 

17:20-22 39 

18:3, 17 20, 39, 74 

19:21-29 86 

20:19-28 13, 129 

21:18-22 39 

21:42, 43 22, 76 

22:10, 14 23, 25 

23:13-27 202 

24:3 123 

28:2-10, 19, 20... 23, 48, 88 
28:20 25. 123 

Mark: 

1:4, 5-9, 14, 15..62, 74, 153 

4:35-41 48 

5:1-13 53 

6:1-6, 34, 45-50. .25, 41, 93 

7:24-30 88 

8:1-9, 31 41,129 

9:1 74 

10:29, 30 199 

10:35-40, 45 13, 19 

11:11-14, 20-24 13, 39 

12:10, 11, 34 22, 74 

12:41-44 86 

13:11 85 

15:40, 43 74, 93 

16:15, 17-20 23, 155 

Luke: 

3:1 73 

4:13 19 

- 5:1-11 53, 54 

7:9, 11-27 39, 48 

8:22-34 48, 53 

9:12-17, 27 41, 75 

10:9, 11 75 

12:11, 12, 31, 32.... 75, 85 

12:47, 48 199 

17:5, 6, 20 14, 39 

19:11 75 

20:17 22 

21:14, 15 85 

22:27, 61 19. 39 



23:5, 42 13, 76 

24:46, 47 75, 76, 88 

John: 

1:14, 43 19, 22 

2:1-11, 19, 20... 12, 47, 55 
3:2, 3, 5, 23.. 20, 21, 25, 153 

4:4-30 89 

5:36 54 

6:1-14, 15-20 13, 41 

6:45 24 

7:3-5, 9 85, 93 

10:37, 38-44 54 

11:38-44 48 

14:11, 26, 27 54, 85 

16:7, 13 .85 

17:11, 20-23 182 

18:1, 28 13, 129 

19:1— 129 

20:30, 31 40 

21:1-14, 25 40, 53 

Acts: 

1:1-6 25, 14, 76 

1:8, 14 n, 88, 94 

2:22, 44, 45 55, 86 

3:1-10, 19, 25 39, 54 

4:11, 32-36 22, 86, 95 

5:1-10 39, 86 

5:17, 25, 42 25, 163 

6:1, 5 39, 86, 88 

7:1-34 .87 

7:39-43, 55-60... 11, 19, 87 

8:1, 12, 40 88 

9:26-30 90 

10:16 89 

11:15, 19.. n, 88 

11:24-30 39, 86, 90, 91 

12:1, 2 17, 25 91, 94 

13:1-8, 13 39, 92, 95 

14:1-28 39, 92 

15:1, 5, 6 91, 163 

15:19-29, 35-41, 

25, 90, 94, 95 

16:5 39 

18:8 25 

20:29, 30, 35 86, 122 

21:8, 17-28.. 25, 89, 94, 96 

22:20 87 

23:16-23 90 

24:5, 17, 24.... 39, 86, 163 
26:5, 10, 18, 22.. 39, 87, 163 
28:16, 22-31.... 39, 96, 163 

Romans : 

1:14-16, 20 11, 23 

2:21, 29 25, 62 

4:3, 9 39 

6:4 153 

8:3, 35 19, 84 



Index 



255 



9:33 22 

10:17 39 

12:2-7 25, 84, 123, 182 

15:8, 19 -28.. 55, 62, 76, 86 
16:7-26 39, 62, 90, 173 

I Corinthians: 

1:20 123 

2:6-8 123 

3:11, 18 22, 123 

4:6, 17 25, 202 

7:19 62 

9:5 13J 

10:4, 11 22, 123 

12:9, 12 39, 182 

13:8-10 55, 99 

14:19 25 

15:7, 19 36, 94 

16:1-4 86 

II Corinthians: 

3:1-11 26 

4:4 123 

8:1-15 19, 86 

9:1-15 86 

11:23-27 , 92 

12:12 55 

13:11 182 

Galatians: 

1:4, 16-21 90, 94, 123 

2:1, 8-14 91, 94, 95 

3:8, 23-25 12, 39 

4:4, 26 62, 68, 11 

6:2. 6 25, 26 



Ephesians: 

1:21 123 

2:7 123 

3:5, 21 123 

4:13 39 

5:25-27 115, 165 

Philippians: 

1:12, 13 96 

2:5-8 19 

4:22 96 

Coiossians: 

1:13,26,28 21, 25, 123 

2:11, 12 62, 153 

3:16 25 

I Thessalonians: 

2:4 197 

II Thessalonians: 

2:1-12 122 

I Timothy: 

1:19, 20 39 

2:7 25 

3:2, 15, 16 19, 25 

4:1-3, 11-16.... 25, 39, 122 

5:8, 17 25, 39 

6:6-10 39, 210 

II Timothy: 

2:2, 17 25, 39 

3:8, 11, 16 25, 39, 92 

4:3, 4, 7, 13.... 39, 97, 122 



Titus: 

2:1, 3, 13 25, 197 

Hebrews: 

2:2-4, 18 19, 55 

4:15 19 

5:12 25 

6:5 56 

8:10 26 

10:16 26 

11:6 39 

12:12, 28 21, 68 

13:23 97 

James: 

1:25 26 

2:8, 12 26 

4:12 26 

I Peter: 

2:6-8 22 

3:8 182 

4:11 197 

II Peter: 

3:15, 16 95 

II jQhn: 
9:— 202 

Revelations: 

1:9 93 

2:1 165 

3:1, 12 165, 169 

3:1, 12 94, 165, 169 

11:11, 15 165, 169 

12:10 165 



References in the Appendices 



Genesis : 

1:1 29 

2:16, 17 29 

3:1-4, 15 29, 79 

2~S:20 33 

49:10 .79 

Exodus: 
20:4, 5 135 

Numbers: 
16:30 56 

II Kings: 

6:37, 38 27 

12:4 27 

II Chronicles: 

29:1 27 

34:1— 27 

36:1 27 

Ezra: 

1:1-11 27 

2:18 27 

3:7 27 

4:1-16 27 

6:1-14 27 



Psalms: 

5:7 27 

75:7 28 

138:2 27 

Isaiah: 

9:6 79 

28-11 105 

32:1 79 

44:28 27 

62:2 109 

65:15 110 

66:5 110 

Ezekiel: 
46:2, 3 27 

Daniel: 

1:2 27 

2:34, 35, 44 242 

5:2 27 

7:18, 22, 27 242 

8:9-14 27 

9:27 27 

Zechariah: 

1:16 27 

4:8-10 27 



6:12-15 27 

8:9-15 27 

Haggai: 

.^llE-,:.;;^----:: uj^^-;^- ^2 

Matthew: 

2:12, 22 110 

9:8, 7>Z 56 

10:8, 19-22.... 56, 104, 111 

12:26, 32 24, 123 

13:22-49 123 

16:18, 21 129, 158 

19:29 Ill 

20:19 129 

21:12-15 27, 56 

24:2, 3, 15 27, 123 

26:61 27 

28:20 25, 123 

Mark: 

8:31 129 

13:11 104 

16:17 , 104 

Luke: 

1:49 56 

2:26 110 



256 



Ti-iE Maple Lectures 



4:5, 6 28 

5:26 56 

10:17 56 

12:11, 12 104 

13:17 56 

19:41-44 27 

21:5, 6, 12 27, 111 

22:31 28 

John: 

1:1-5 35 

2:13-20 27 

14:30 28 

15:20, 21 Ill 

16:17 104 

18:1— 129 

19:1 129 

Acts: 

2:1-28 56, 105, 106 

6:8, 13 27. 56 

8:6, 7, 13 56 

9:16 Ill 

10:22, 46 106, 111 

11:26 110 

14:23 35 

19:6, 16-38 35, 56, 106 

20:29-31 238 

28:9 56 

Romans: 

7:3 Ill 

14:19-23 234 

15:26 109 



I Corinthians: 

1:20 123 

2:6-8 123 

4:6, 14-21 35, 108, 234 

7:17 36 

9:5, 19-23 108, 131 

10:11 123 

12:10 56, 106 

14:1-23 35, 106, 234 

15:9 36 

16:19 36 

II Corinthians: 

1:24 108 

2:4 108 

4:4 123 

8:1, 9, 18, 23 36, 109 

9:7, 13, 14 109 

11:28 36 

12:15 108 

13:10 108 

Qalatians: 
1:2, 4, 13, 22 36, 123 

Ephesians: 

1:21 123 

2:2, 7 28, 123 

3:5, 10-21.... Ill, 123,. 243 
5:19, 25-27... 115, 165, 234 
6:10-13 28, 243 

Colossians: 

1:24, 26 36, 123 

3:16 234 



I Thessalonians: 

1:4 36 

2:5-8 .108 

5:23 37 

II Thessalonians: 
2:1-12 ....- 35, 238 

I Timothy: 

2:14 29 

4:1-4 239 

II Timothy: 

4:3, 4 239 

Hebrews: 

4:1 105 

6:5 56 

8:5 Ill 

11:6, 7 Ill, 234 

12:25 Ill 

James: 

2:6, 7 Ill 

1 John: 

2:18-22 238 

3:8 29 

4:3 238 

5:19 28 

Revelations: 

2:3, 13 Ill 

12:9 29 

13:18 238 

20:3, 8, 10 29 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper proces 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: April 2006 

PreservationTechnoIogie 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATI 
1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



